Generic Clearance Sheet

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1545-2208)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: 2015 Roper Surveys

PURPOSE: The purpose of this research is to provide IRS data on IRS favorability trends over time through two, one-question surveys annually to better understand how IRS favorability rates may correlate with relevant taxpayer behavior or attitudes. To minimize costs to the government, IRS would add one question to two of GfK’s Roper omnibus surveys each year, as part of a subscription service.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: A representative sample of Americans over the age of eighteen will be surveyed and are assumed to be current or future taxpayers.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [X] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Donna Baldwin, Senior Progam Evaluation & Risk Analyst (Donna.K.Baldwin@irs.gov)

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [] Yes [X] No None is requested on behalf of IRS and none is provided to IRS.

2. If “Yes”, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No N/A

3. If “Yes”, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No N/A

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [X] Yes [] No IRS is not providing incentives for its question; however, GfK, whose Roper surveys IRS would piggyback on, offers members of its Online Consumer Panel points that can be redeemed for various merchandise, gift cards, or other items.

BURDEN HOURS (Per Survey Totals and Totals for Two Surveys are included below)

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time (minutes) Per Survey	Burden per Survey	Total Burden for Two Surveys
Total Participants (Individuals)	4,120 (8,240 for 2 surveys)	1 minute per respondent	68.7 hours (4,120 x 1 min.)/60	137.3 hours (8,240 x 1 min.)/60
Totals	See above	See above	68.7 hours (0 + 68.7)	137.3 hours

FEDERAL COST: The annual cost to the Federal government for the 2015 Roper Survey (GfK is the vendor) is $54,000, which includes numerous services, such as the addition of the IRS favorability question in two of GfK’s Roper Surveys each year.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

GfK’s Roper Survey Universe and Respondent Selection

General Information: A stratified sample of 8,240 adults 18 years of age or over in the United States will be interviewed for this study using the GfK Online Consumer Panel in two surveys (4,120 interviews each, one in March/April 2015, the other in September/October 2015).

Sampling Method: The sample design uses a disproportionate pre-stratified sample, where the strata are levels of several known demographic variables that are found in the database record of each survey community member who is sampled for the project. The starting point for the stratification is the distribution of these variables among the online population of the United States who are 18 years of age or older. Besides accounting for demographics in the sample draw, sample invitations are sent out according to a pre-determined distribution that accounts for rates at which each stratus tends to click on the survey invitation, thereby at least starting the survey.

Weighting: All completed interviews are weighted to resemble the demographic characteristics of the online population age 18 years and older as defined by the MRI Fall 2014 survey weighted demos among online adults.

Procedures for Collecting Information

The data will be collected using two online surveys of 4,120 respondents each (8,240 interviews total) from the GfK Online Consumer Panel. The GfK Online Consumer Panel consists of adults 18 years of age or older. Online survey participants volunteer to become panelists. GfK offers points as a participation incentive, which can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, or other items. To become GfK Consumer Panel participants for online surveys, volunteers complete GfK’s registration surveys and enter a CAPTCHA to verify their authenticity. Panelists’ names and addresses are verified against 3^rd party databases annually. Panel members are regularly issued profiling surveys to capture the most recent respondent information. Recruiting methodologies include banner advertising via targeted banners across hundreds of websites, affiliate marketing in which advertisers choose whether they want to run GfK’s panel offer, co-registration arrangements between companies in which multiple offers are presented to recruit panelists, and e-mail campaigns in which an advertiser sends targeted e-mails with GfK’s offer to recruit panelists. Panel members are invited to participate in surveys via e-mails, sms, mobile telephones, and web intercept invitations.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [X ] No These are online surveys.

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request. (See below)

IRS’ 2015 Roper Survey Questionnaire (one question):

Q: Turning to another subject. Is your opinion of the IRS highly favorable, moderately favorable, not too favorable or rather unfavorable?

1 Highly favorable

2 Moderately favorable

3 Not too favorable

4 Unfavorable

5 Don’t know

3