Proposed Collection; Comment Request for the IRS Taxpayer Burden Surveys, 13707 [2020-04733]

Agencies

• Internal Revenue Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 46 (Monday, March 9, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 13707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04733]



[[Page 13707]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Internal Revenue Service


Proposed Collection; Comment Request for the IRS Taxpayer Burden 
Surveys

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Internal Revenue Service, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. The IRS is soliciting comments concerning the 
2020, 2021, and 2022 Wage and Investment Strategies and Solutions 
Behavioral Laboratory Customer Surveys and Support.

DATES: Written comments should be received on or before May 8, 2020 to 
be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to R. Joseph Durbala, Internal 
Revenue Service, Room 6529, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the form should be directed to Kerry Dennis, at (202) 317-
5751 or Internal Revenue Service, Room 6529, 1111 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington DC 20224, or through the internet, at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Wage and Investment Strategies and Solutions Behavioral 
Laboratory Customer Surveys and Support.
    OMB Number: 1545-2274.
    Regulatory Number: N/A.
    Abstract: As outlined in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 
Strategic Plan, the Agency is working towards allocating IRS resources 
strategically to address the evolving scope and increasing complexity 
of tax administration. In order to do this, IRS must realize their 
operational efficiencies and effectively manage costs by improving 
enterprise-wide resource allocation and streamlining processes using 
feedback from various behavioral research techniques. To assist the 
Agency is accomplishing the goal outlined in the Strategic Plan, the 
Wage and Investment Division continuously maintains a ``customer-
first'' focus through routinely soliciting information concerning the 
needs and characteristics of its customers and implementing programs 
based on the information received. W&I Strategies and Solutions (WISS), 
is developing the implementation of a Behavioral Laboratory to 
identify, plan and deliver business improvement processes that support 
fulfillment of the IRS strategic goals. The collection of information 
through the Behavioral Laboratory is necessary to enable the Agency to 
garner customer and stakeholder feedback in an efficient, timely 
manner, in accordance with the commitment to improving taxpayer service 
delivery. Improving agency programs requires ongoing assessment of 
service delivery. WISS, through the Behavioral Laboratory, will 
collect, analyze, and interpret information gathered through this 
generic clearance to identify strengths and weaknesses of current 
services and make improvements in service delivery based on feedback 
provided by taxpayers and employees of the Internal Revenue Service.
    Current Actions: The IRS will be revising and replacing various 
surveys. The survey scope is expanded to include burden for surveys 
associated with all taxpayer segments. This effort represents a 
continuation of the IRS's strategy to gather taxpayer burden data for 
all types of tax returns and information reporting documents in order 
to support Wage and Investment's OMB Improvement Strategy to transition 
burden estimates for all taxpayers to the preferred RAAS burden 
estimation methodology. These surveys will allow RAAS to update and 
validate the IRS Taxpayer Burden Model which will be used to provide 
estimates for consolidated taxpayer segments, like what is currently 
done for OMB numbers 1545-0074, 1545-0123, and 1545-0047.
    Data Collections Covered Under This Clearance Request: Customer 
Call Back Programming (CCB).
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Individual, Business, or other for-profit 
organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 150,000.
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 1 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 150,000 hours.
    The following paragraph applies to all the collections of 
information covered by this notice.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of 
information displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records 
relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as 
their contents may become material in the administration of any 
internal revenue law. Generally, tax returns and tax return information 
are confidential, as required by 26 U.S.C. 6103.
    Request for Comments: Comments submitted in response to this notice 
will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All 
comments will become a matter of public record. Comments are invited 
on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 
agency's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on respondents, including through the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) 
estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, 
maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.

    Approved: March 2, 2020.
R. Joseph Durbala,
IRS Tax Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2020-04733 Filed 3-6-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-P