Customer Surveys; CS-10-220, CS-10-221, CS-10-222, CS-10-223, CS-10-224, CS-10-225, CS-10-226, and CS-10-227

IRS Business Taxpayer Burden Survey
The purpose of this survey is to provide Congress and the President with accurate estimates of the costs
incurred by business taxpayers in complying with federal rules and regulations as well as to inform tax
administrators and policy makers regarding opportunities to reduce and otherwise manage these costs.
Please be assured that you will not be asked about the income or other financial details of your business’
tax return.
This questionnaire relates to the activities associated with the preparation and filing of your 2009 federal
income tax return and any other tax returns (i.e., employment, excise, information returns, state and local,
etc.) filed for the same period. This includes any filings completed in the 12 months leading up the filing
of your business’ 2009 federal income tax return.
The individual most responsible for maintaining the financial records for your business or making the
financial and tax-related decisions for your business should complete this questionnaire. You may need to
consult with others in your organization to complete the survey and we encourage you to do so.
This survey includes questions regarding the following content areas:
• Tax Preparation Methods and Activities
• Tax-related Recordkeeping
• Gathering Materials, Learning About Tax Law, and Using IRS Taxpayer Services
• Tax Form Completion
• Tax Department Personnel and Budget
• Time Associated with Tax Compliance
• Allocation of Time Burden Across Tax Compliance Activities
• Allocation of Time Burden Across Type of Employee
• Fees Associated with Tax Compliance
• Demographics
Please be assured that your responses will be used for research and aggregate reporting purposes only
and will not be used for other non-statistical or non-research purposes such as direct enforcement
activities.
[Contact Info]
OMB No: 1545-1432. Expiration Date: XX/XX/XX This report is authorized under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Data
collected will be shared with IRS staff, but your responses will be used for research and aggregate reporting
purposes only and will not be used for other non-statistical or non-research purposes such as direct enforcement
activities. The information that you provide will be protected to the fullest extent allowable under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA). Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 15 to 20
minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding
this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this
burden, to IRS Tax Products Coordinating Committee, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20224

1

OMB No: 1545-1432

TAX PREPARATION METHODS AND ACTIVITIES
This part of the survey collects general information about your business. Please answer all questions
with reference to the most recent tax return year. The most recent tax year includes the 12 months
leading up to the filing of your business’ most recent federal income tax return.
1.

Which of the following methods did your business use to prepare its most recent federal income
tax return? Include activities done by external service providers. Check all that apply
Did your business use…
† A tax preparation service
† A tax advisory service
† Accounting and/or financial software
† Tax preparation software (e.g., Turbo Tax, Tax Cut, H&R Block At Home, InSource,
CORPTAX, custom software)
† Employees of your business
† Paper or pdf version of the IRS tax forms
† 1099 and/or W2 contractor(s)
† Other, please specify:________________________________________

2.

In addition to preparation of your business’ federal income tax return, which of the following
activities did your business engage in (as part of its internal operations rather than services
provided to clients) during the most recent tax year? Please check the corresponding box if the
activity was performed by an employee of your business (including owners) and/or an external
service provider. If both performed a particular activity, check both boxes for that activity.
Business
Employee

External Service
Provider

Not Applicable

A. Bookkeeping

†

†

†

B. Payroll

†

†

†

C. Employment tax (including filing and/or
payment preparation)
D. Employee benefit (pension) plan
E. State and local tax (including sales and use
tax)
F. Property tax
G. Excise tax (i.e., special motor fuels, alcohol &
tobacco products, air transportation)
H. Estimated income tax payments

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

†

I. Individual income tax preparation for owners
or partners of your business

†

†

†

J. Legal (tax and business activities)

†

†

†

K. Non-tax business consulting
L. Other than the activities already mentioned,
did you engage in any additional tax-related
activities? Please describe:

†

†

†

†

†

†

Activity

2

OMB No: 1545-1432

TAX-RELATED RECORDKEEPING
Please think about your business’ recordkeeping activities, specifically tax-related recordkeeping. Taxrelated recordkeeping includes all the activities your business did to create, maintain, and store records
needed to complete its federal, state and local tax returns. In this section we are going to discuss the
records you maintain for federal, state and local tax purposes.
3.

Which of the following statements describe the accounting or bookkeeping system your business
used during the most recent tax year? Did your business…

Did your business…

Yes

No

Don’t know

†

†

†

†

†

†

C. Use general recordkeeping software products such as Microsoft
Office, Lotus, Open Office, etc.?

†

†

†

D. Maintain a hard-copy ledger to record business transactions?

†

†

†

E. Other, please specify: _______________________________

†

†

†

A. Use an off-the-shelf accounting and financial software system
such as QuickBooks Pro, Peachtree Complete, MYOB Business
Essentials?
B. Use a customized, business-wide, software-based accounting
system such as Oracle, Deltek Costpoint, SAP or a point of sale
system?

GATHERING MATERIALS, LEARNING ABOUT TAX LAW, AND USING IRS TAXPAYER
SERVICES
Consider the tax related materials your business gathered and how your business learned about tax laws
in order to complete its federal tax return and comply with federal tax obligations.
4.

During the most recent tax year, did you or others at your business obtain forms, publications, or
other materials from:

Source

Yes

No

Don’t know

A.

The IRS website?

†

†

†

B.

An IRS walk-in office?

†

†

†

†

†

†

Yes

No

Don’t know

D. Review IRS tax form and publications in preparation for
completing your business’ federal tax return or in deciding to hire
an external paid professional?

†

†

†

E.

†

†

†

C. By ordering them from the IRS either via mail or telephone?

During the most recent tax year, did you or others at your business…
Activity

Attend tax seminars to learn about federal tax issues?

3

OMB No: 1545-1432

Sometimes people contact the IRS for reasons other than obtaining forms and publications. During the
most recent tax year, did you or others at your business (please exclude external service providers)
interact with the IRS via any of the following channels for reasons OTHER than obtaining forms and
publications? (Do not include form filing or making estimated payments.)
Activity

Yes

No

Don’t know

†

†

†

G. Call the IRS Toll Free Tax Assistance Line

†

†

†

H. Go to an IRS walk-in site

†

†

†

I.

Use the IRS website

†

†

†

J.

Correspond with the IRS via e-mail

†

†

†

K.

Correspond with the IRS via regular mail

†

†

†

F.

Obtain e-file assistance

TAX FORM COMPLETION

5.

Consider the amount of work that goes into the completion of a particular tax form. Who did the
majority of the work for the tax forms listed below- an employee of your business or an external
service provider? (Please select one option per form type.)

Form
Federal Income Tax
State & Local Tax
Employment Tax
Excise Tax
K-1s
W-2s
Other information returns
(1099s, etc.)

Business
Employee
†
†
†
†
†
†

External Service
Provider
†
†
†
†
†
†

Not Applicable
†
†
†
†
†
†

†

†

†

4

OMB No: 1545-1432

As mentioned earlier, the purpose of this survey is to provide Congress and the President with
accurate estimates of the costs incurred by business taxpayers to comply with federal rules and
regulations. For most businesses these costs are a combination of time spent and out-of-pocket
expenses (e.g., fees paid to external service providers, software costs). In the remaining sections
we will ask for estimates of these costs.

TAX DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL AND BUDGET
6. Does your organization have a dedicated tax department? Please note that this is not typical for
smaller businesses. Do not include your external service provider.
† Yes Æ Please go to questions 7-9 below
† No Æ Please go to question 10

7. If you answered yes to question 6, how many of your business’ employees were members of the tax
department in the most recent tax year?
7a. Full-time Employees ________
† Don’t Know
7b. Part-time Employees ________
† Don’t Know

7c. What was the total annual budget for the tax department in the most recent tax year?
_________ Dollar amount of tax department annual budget

7d. What percentage of the amount stated in 7c was spent on federal tax compliance activities
during the most recent tax year?
__________ Percent of annual budget spent on federal tax compliance activities

8.

Please indicate what other departments in your business also contribute personnel time to tax
compliance activities. Do not include activities done by external service providers. Check all that
apply.
†
†
†
†
†
†
†

IT department
Payroll
Comptrolling
Human resources department
Subsidiary tax department
Other, please specify:________________________________________
None Æ Please go to question 11

5

OMB No: 1545-1432

9.

Please indicate in the table below how much time in the most recent tax year employees outside
the tax department spent on tax compliance activities both for all taxes and for federal taxes only.
Total hours spent in most
recent tax year on all tax
compliance activities

Department

Total hours spent in most
recent tax year on federal
tax compliance activities

A. IT department
B. Payroll
C. Comptrolling
D. Human resources department
E. Subsidiary tax department
F. Other, please specify:
_______________________________

GO TO QUESTION 11

TIME ASSOCIATED WITH TAX COMPLIANCE
Please think about how much time your business spent to comply with its tax obligations.
Consider time spent on recordkeeping, tax planning, gathering materials, learning about tax law,
using IRS services, completing and submitting your federal tax return, and calculating and
depositing payroll and estimated income tax payments.
10. If you answered no to question 6, how many employees in your business, including yourself, regularly
perform tax compliance related activities as part of their responsibilities?
10a. Full-time Employees ________
† Don’t Know
10b. Part-time Employees ________
† Don’t Know
10c. On average, what percentage of their time did those counted in questions 10a and 10b
above spend on federal tax compliance activities?
Full-time Employees: __________Percent
Part-time Employees: __________Percent

10d. On average, during the most recent tax year, how many hours did the part-time employees
reported in 10b above work on all activities, not just tax-related activities? Please base your
answer on a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks per year.
__________Average number of hours worked by part-time tax staff in most recent tax year

GO TO QUESTION 11

6

OMB No: 1545-1432

ALLOCATION OF TIME BURDEN ACROSS TAX COMPLIANCE ACTIVITIES
11.

Consider all of the time your business spent on tax compliance activities during the most recent
tax year. How would you divide the total time spent by your employees on all the listed income
tax related activities? Please do not include time spent by your external paid professional.
What percentage of the total time was spent on:
A. Tax recordkeeping?
_____%
B. Tax planning?
_____%
C. Gathering materials, learning about tax law,
and using IRS taxpayer services?
_____%
D. Completing and submitting your federal return? _____%
E. Calculating and depositing payroll and
estimated Income tax payments?
_____%
F. Other?
_____%
Please specify _________________
SUM = 100%

ALLOCATION OF TIME BURDEN ACROSS TYPE OF EMPLOYEE
12.

Consider all of the time your business spent only on tax compliance activities during the most
recent tax year. How would you divide the total time spent on tax compliance activities spent by
each type of employee listed below (e.g., owners do 50% of the work, managers do the other
50%)? Please do not include time spent by your external paid professional.
What percentage of the total time was spent by:
A. Owner(s)?
_____%
B. Executives, professionals, managers? _____%
C. Clerical or administrative staff?
_____%
D. Other types of employees not listed? _____%
Please specify _________________ SUM = 100%

7

OMB No: 1545-1432

FEES ASSOCIATED WITH TAX COMPLIANCE
Please think about how much money your business spent to comply with its tax obligations.
Costs associated with tax compliance are a very important part of assessing burden, so please
provide the most accurate estimate you can.
13a.

How much did your business pay all external service providers for all tax and tax-related services
received during the most recent tax year?
_________ Dollar Amount
† Don’t Know
13b.

How much of the amount entered in question 13a above was spent exclusively on federal
tax related activities, such as tax planning and tax return preparation?
_________ Dollar Amount
† Don’t Know

14a.

How much money, if any, did your business spend during the most recent tax year on all taxspecific software? Include any costs your business may have incurred for annual maintenance
and updates.
_________ Dollar Amount
† Don’t Know
14b.

How much money, if any, did your business spend during the most recent tax year on
federal tax-specific software? Include any costs your business may have incurred for
annual maintenance and updates.
_________ Dollar Amount
† Don’t Know

15a.

If applicable, how much money was spent on other business-related tax activities not included in
questions 13 and 14 above for the most recent tax year? This may include money spent on
electronic submission, photocopies, tax literature, transportation, or postage. Do not include
money your business spent on its external paid professional, tax software, or employee
compensation.
_________ Dollar Amount
† Don’t Know
15b.

How much money, if any, was spent on other business-related tax activities for your
business’ most recent federal tax return? Include money spent on electronic submission,
photocopies, tax literature, transportation, or postage. Do not include money your
business spent on its external paid professional, tax software, or employee
compensation.
_________ Dollar Amount
† Don’t Know

8

OMB No: 1545-1432

DEMOGRAPHICS
Finally, we have a few questions about your business.
16.

On average, how many full-time and part-time employees, if any, did your business have during
the most recent tax year? Please include partners or owners, but do not include any independent
contractors. (Independent contractors are workers who are not treated as employees.)
A. Full-time Employees ________
† Don’t Know
B. Part-time Employees ________
† Don’t Know

17.

On average, at any one time, how many independent contractors, if any, did your business use
during the most recent tax year? (Independent contractors are workers who are not treated as
employees.)
_______ Number of independent contractors
† Don’t Know

18.

In how many states did your business file state income tax returns during the most recent tax
year?
_________Number of states
† Don’t Know

19.

Does your business have any branches, offices or subsidiaries in a foreign country?
Yes
No
Don’t know

†
†
†

THANK YOU FOR COMPLETING OUR SURVEY

9

OMB No: 1545-1432

IRS BTB Survey
Reminder postcard

[DATE]
We recently mailed you a letter regarding the burden your business experiences in complying
with tax regulations. If you have already completed the online survey, please accept my sincere
thanks. If not, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. Your responses are very
important and will be used to provide estimates of burden to Congress and the President.
To take the Internet survey, enter the URL www.IRS-BTBSurvey.org into your browser. You
will be asked for your survey username and password which are printed on the letter sent
earlier.
If you did not receive the letter or if you cannot locate your username and password, please call
Josh Rubin at Westat, 1-800-XXX-XXXX or send an email to IRS-BTB@westat.com for
assistance.
Sincerely,

IRS BTB Survey
Large Business Screening Script
CONFIRMATION REACHED CORRECT ESTABLISHMENT
[IF NEEDED: My name is [INTERVIEWER’S NAME] and I am calling on behalf of the Internal Revenue
Service regarding their Business Taxpayer Burden Survey.]
[EVEN IF PHONE ANSWERED USING NAME OF ORGANIZATION, ASK QUESTION.]
Hello, is this [BUSINESS NAME]?
1.
YES, NAME IS CORRECT
2.
YES, NAME NEEDS MINOR CORRECTION
3.
NO, DIFFERENT NAME
4.
RESIDENCE ONLY (NOT A BUSINESS)
5.
TELEPHONE COMPANY RECORDING
GT.
GO TO RESULT CODE
IDENTIFICATION OF APPROPRIATE RESPONDENT
Hello, my name is [INTERVIEWER’S NAME]. I am calling on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
regarding their Business Taxpayer Burden Survey. We would like to mail a questionnaire to your
company’s Chief Financial Officer, or the person primarily responsible for overseeing your business’ tax
activities. Can you please tell me his or her name, mailing address, and telephone number?
Contact Name:_________________________
Contact Mailing address: _________________________
Contact Telephone Number: __________________________
Within a week, we will send the questionnaire to [CONTACT NAME]. Thank you for your help with this
important study.
IF NO NAME CAN BE GIVEN: Can I speak to someone in your Human Resources department?
[REPEAT ABOVE SCRIPT ONCE SPEAKING WITH HR DEPT.]
IF NEEDED:
We are trying to locate the person at your company who is most knowledgeable about your company’s
tax activities because the survey asks about the time and money your business spends on tax
compliance activities. The results of the survey will help the IRS understand the burden placed on
businesses and identify ways to reduce that burden. Your business’ responses are very important as
they will help provide Congress and the President with accurate estimates of the time and financial costs
incurred by business taxpayers in complying with federal rules and regulations.
If you would like to speak with someone at the IRS about this survey, please call the IRS Communications
& Liaison office at 202-283-8570.

Dear Taxpayer:
I’m writing to ask you to take part in a very important survey that could benefit you and millions of other business
taxpayers across America.
We hear from many business taxpayers that preparing and filing tax returns is time consuming and expensive. The
IRS wants to make this situation better and you can help us with this effort.
Your answers will help our contractor, Westat, update our program that estimates the amount of time and money businesses
spend doing their taxes each year. We use this program to analyze and thereby help reduce taxpayer burden. Let me assure
you that all information you provide will be used for research and aggregate reporting purposes only and will not be used for
other non-statistical or non-research purposes such as direct enforcement activities.
Of course, participation is totally voluntary. You don’t have to join in the study. But having your real life tax
preparation experience will give us better data. More accurate data will then help us design better solutions for
reducing taxpayer burden.
I hope that you will agree to participate in this critical survey. Together we have a great opportunity to really make
a difference. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Rosemary D. Marcuss
Director, IRS Office of Research, Analysis, and Statistics

TELEPHONE SCRIPT FOR CALLS TO NONRESPONDENT CASES
NO CONTACT NAME
[EVEN IF PHONE ANSWERED USING NAME OF ORGANIZATION, ASK QUESTION.]
Hello, is this [BUSINESS NAME]?
1.
YES, NAME IS CORRECT
2.
YES, NAME NEEDS MINOR CORRECTION
3.
NO, DIFFERENT NAME
4.
RESIDENCE ONLY (NOT A BUSINESS)
5.
TELEPHONE COMPANY RECORDING
GT.
GO TO RESULT CODE
Hello, my name is [INTERVIEWER’S NAME]. I am calling on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
regarding their Business Taxpayer Burden Survey. We recently sent your company a letter about this survey.

Did your company receive the letter?
[if NO or Don’t Know]
Could you please confirm your address?
[If it is different than what we have]
I see the problem, we had the incorrect address for you. So to confirm, the correct address is
[address]?
We would like to speak to the person within your business who is primarily responsible for overseeing your
business’ tax activities. Can you please tell me his or her name, mailing address, and telephone number?
Contact Name:_________________________
Contact Mailing address: _________________________
Contact Telephone Number: __________________________
Thank you for your help with this important study.
IF NO NAME CAN BE GIVEN: Can I speak to someone in your Human Resources department?
[REPEAT ABOVE SCRIPT ONCE SPEAKING WITH HR DEPT.]

TELEPHONE SCRIPT FOR CALLS TO NONRESPONDENT CASES
CONTACT NAME OBTAINED
Hello, my name is [INTERVIEWER’S NAME]. I am calling on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
regarding their Business Taxpayer Burden Survey. We recently sent your company a letter about this survey

and are following up with those who have not responded.
You were identified as the person who is most knowledgeable about your company’s tax activities and we are
asking for your participation.

The purpose of the survey is to gather information about the time and money your business spends on tax
compliance activities. The results of the survey will help the IRS understand the burden placed on businesses and
identify ways to reduce that burden. Your business’ responses are very important.

Do you think that you could go online to fill out the survey? The survey should only take between
15-20 minutes to complete.
[If yes]
Great! Do you have your username and password? It was in the letter we sent.
[If yes]
Thank you very much. Your responses will help the IRS provide accurate estimates of burden
to Congress and the President. We ask that you complete the survey as soon as possible, or
within the next 5 business days.
[If no- obtain email address]
Ok – we can resend the letter to you via email. May I please have your email address?
Email address: _____________________

Thank you very much. Your responses will help the IRS provide accurate estimates of burden
to Congress and the President. We ask that you complete the survey as soon as possible, or
within the next 5 business days.
[If no]
May I ask why not?
[Document why not in the comments section and try gently to persuade to fill out survey.]
[Close Call]