Indian Tribal Government (ITG) and Tax Exempt Bonds (TEB) Customer Satisfaction Survey

Supporting Statement

OMB Information Collection (ICR) Approval Request to Conduct

Customer Satisfaction Research (OMB #1545-1432)

Indian Tribal Government (ITG) and Tax Exempt Bonds (TEB) Customer Satisfaction Survey

1. JUSTIFICATION

1. Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enlists a balanced measurement system consisting of business results, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. This initiative is part of the Service-wide effort to maintain a system of balanced organizational performance measures mandated by the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act (RRA) of 1998. This is also a result of Executive Order 12862 that requires all government agencies to survey their customers.

TE/GE collects feedback via the survey instrument to track customer satisfaction over time and identify improvement opportunities.

2. Purpose and Use of the Information Collection

The ITG and TEB Customer Satisfaction Survey will fulfill the balanced measurement system requirements mentioned above. The information collected will serve as feedback from the taxpayers on the examinations process and help improve that program.

3. Consideration Given to Information Technology

This is a paper survey sent via USPS mail.

4. Duplication of Information

This survey will provide valuable information that is not available in any internal IRS data source. This is the only survey currently proposed for ITG and TEB customers to evaluate their satisfaction with the examination process. We do not send surveys to the same taxpayers in a 6-month period. In other words, if the taxpayer has received a survey for this project in the last 6 months they will not be sent another one.

5. Reducing the Burden on Small Entities

The survey will be going out to all ITG and TEB entities that have been examined in the previous month with no exception for small entities, however the survey takes less than 8 minutes to complete so the burden is minimal.

6. Consequences of Not Conducting Collection

ITG and TEB would fall short of meeting the IRS Mission of a Balanced Measurement System. Failure to approve this program of research would adversely affect the ability to compare results and determine where customer satisfaction improvements are needed.

7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances relating to this request. The information collected will be voluntary and will not be used for statistical purposes

8. Consultations with Persons Outside the Agency

There will be no consultation with persons outside of the Agency. We are using a vendor to send the surveys but we did not consult with them about the survey instrument, data to be collected or any other information regarding the survey. They are simply sending it on our behalf and recording the answers.

9. Payment or Gift:

There will be no payments for participants

10. Confidentiality:

All participants will be subject to the provisions of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights II during this study and the vendor will ensure that all participants are treated fairly and appropriately.

The security of the data used in this project and the privacy to the extent allowed by law of taxpayers will be carefully safeguarded at all times. Security requirements are based on the Computer Security Act of 1987 and Office of Management and Budget Circular A-130, Appendices A & B. Physical security measures include a locked, secure office. Notes are stored in locked cabinets or shredded. Systems are password protected, users profiled for authorized use, and individual audit trails generated and reviewed periodically.

The IRS will apply and meet fair information and record-keeping practices to ensure privacy protection of all taxpayers to the extent allowed by law. This includes criteria for disclosure—laid out in the Privacy Act of 1974, the Freedom of Information Act, and Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code—all of which provide for the protection of taxpayer information as well as its release to authorized recipients.

11. Sensitive Nature

There are no questions included that are sensitive in nature.

12. Burden of Information Collection –

The average time of survey completion is expected to be less than 8 minutes.

Based on a population of potential respondents of 600 and a response rate of 30%, we expect 180 survey participants, leaving 420 non-participants. The contact time to determine participants could take up to 5 minute, with the resulting burden being 600 x 5 minute/60 = 50 burden hours.

For participants, total time to complete the survey is 8 minutes. The time burden for participants is 180 x 8/60 = 24 burden hours.

The total burden hours for the survey is (50 + 24) = 74 burden hours.

Type of Collection	Participation	Response Time (minutes)	Total Burden (hours)
Potential Respondents Contact	600	5	50
Expected Participants	180	8	24
Grand Total Burden			74

13. Costs to Respondents

There is no cost to respondents resulting from the collection of information.

14. Cost of Federal Government

This survey will be added to the current TE/GE Customer Satisfaction Survey Data collection happening now in other areas of TE/GE. The collection cost will be part of the total cost of the contract already in place which is $158,695.48.

15. Reason for Change

No change is being requested. This is a new request

16. Tabulation of Results, Schedule, Analysis Plans

The contractor will compile the results of the customer satisfaction survey and send them to the IRS to analyze. The IRS will summarize the results of the survey for ITG and TEB.

17. Display of OMB Approval Date

IRS is seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval, as this is a one-time, limited-duration collection

18. Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

These activities comply with the requirements in 5 CFR 1320.9.

19. Dates Collection of Information will Begin and End

Nov 1, 2017-December 31, 2018

B. STATISTICAL METHODS

The primary purpose of these collections will be for internal management purposes; there are no plans to publish or otherwise release this information.

1. Universe and Respondent Selection

The population to be surveyed consists of all taxpayers who have recently (within the last month for each month the survey is conducted) been under examination.

2. Procedures for Collecting Information

There are four waves. The first letter is sent by the Commissioner of TE/GE letting them know a survey will be coming from our vendor. The second contact is the letter from the vendor along with a survey and a self-addressed stamped envelope for return. The third contact is a post card reminding them to complete the survey or thanking them if they have already completed it. If we still do not have a response the vendor will send another reminder letter and a second copy of the survey for them to fill out.

3. Methods to Maximize Response

Four contacts will be made to maximize response rates, noted above.

4. Testing of Procedures

The surveys are designed based on established and tested customer satisfaction survey instruments.

5. Contacts for Statistical Aspects and Data Collection

For questions regarding the study or questionnaire design or statistical methodology, contact:

Shannah Lineberger

CP&C Research and Analysis Group 1

Statistician

999 N. Capitol St. NE

Washington, DC 20003

202-317-8770

Shannah.r.lineberger@irs.gov

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