A11-20-16 Appeals Survey 2021

FY 2021 Appeals CATI Survey Instrument

SAMPLE VARIABLES:

REPFLAG. Imported sample variable: REPFLAG

0 Taxpayer

1 POA/Rep

NAMEFLAG. Imported sample variable: NAMEFLAG

I Individual

B Business

RESPFLAG. Imported sample variable: RESPFLAG

T Taxpayer

B Business

MFT. Imported sample variable: MFT

0 non ic/cic

1 ic/cic

2 exm/tege

REPNAMECLEAN. Imported sample variable: REPNAMECLEAN

[TEXT BOX]

TPNAMECLEAN. Imported sample variable: TPNAMECLEAN

[TEXT BOX]

Sample elements:

TEL01 (telephone number)

DATE AND TIME OF INTERVIEW:

MFT CODES:

IC/CIC

featrcd

//PROGRAMMER: Assign DISPO 61 to CATI completes and DISPO 62 to web completes//

//ASK ALL//

INTRO1. Hello, this is ____________ calling from ICF on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service’s Independent Office of Appeals. We are contacting taxpayers who have recently appealed a tax issue with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals. We are conducting a customer satisfaction survey for Appeals and [if repflag=0 insert TPNAMECLEAN] [if repflag=1 insert REPNAMECLEAN] should have recently received a letter from Appeals explaining the survey and that we would be calling.

01 CONTINUE

//ASK IF NAMEFLAG= I AND REPFLAG=0//

Q1a1. May I please speak with [IF NEWNAME NOT 01 INSERT TPNAMECLEAN; IF NEWNAME=01 INSERT NEWNAME]?

01 Yes, respondent answers

02 Yes, respondent available

03 No such person

04 Respondent not available/Not a good time //GO TO CALLBACK SCREEN//

99 REFUSED

//ASK IF NAMEFLAG=I AND REPFLAG=1//

Q1a2. May I please speak with [IF NEWNAME NOT 01 INSERT REPNAMECLEAN; IF NEWNAME=01 INSERT NEWNAME]?

01 Yes, respondent answers

02 Yes, respondent available

03 No such person

04 Respondent not available/Not a good time //GO TO CALLBACK SCREEN//

99 REFUSED

//ASK IF NAMEFLAG=B OR ((NAMEFLAG=I AND Q1A1=03 AND RESPFLAG NOT T) OR (Q1A2=03 AND RESPFLAG NOT T))//

Q1b. I would like to speak with the person most knowledgeable about your tax issues. Who would that be?

01 PERSON ON PHONE

02 TO ENTER NAME //GO TO NEWNAME//

03 NO SUCH PERSON

04 TRANSFERRING

98 DON’T KNOW //GO TO CALLBACK SCREEN//

99 REFUSED

//ASK IF Q1B=02//

NEWNAME: ENTER NEW NAME

01 Gave Response [TEXT BOX]

//ASK IF Q1B=02//

TEL03: [INTERVIEWER PRESS ENTER IF NUMBER IS SAME, ELSE ENTER NEW NUMBER]

ORIGINAL NUMBER: $N

[NUMBER BOX]

//ASK IF Q1b=02//

Q1c. May I please speak with [NEWNAME]?

01 YES, TRANSFERRING

02 NO, SCHEDULE CALLBACK //GO TO CALLBACK SCREEN//

99 REFUSED

//ASK IF Q1a1=02 or Q1a2=02 or Q1b=04 or Q1c=01//

Intro2. Hello, this is ____________ calling from ICF on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service’s Independent Office of Appeals. We are contacting taxpayers who have recently appealed a tax issue with the IRS Independent Office of Appeals. We are conducting a customer satisfaction survey for Appeals and you should have recently received a letter from Appeals explaining the survey and that we would be calling.

01 CONTINUE

//ASK IF Q1a1 = 01,02 or Q1a2 = 01,02 or Q1B=01 or Q1b=04 or Q1C=01//

Q1. If you worked with the IRS Appeals Officer or Settlement Officer on a recent tax appeals process, are you the taxpayer or representative? [Read list]

01 Taxpayer

02 Representative

03 Other

04 Never had a case with the Independent Office of Appeals

05 Had a case with the Independent Office of Appeals, but are not the person who worked with Appeals Officer or Settlement Officer

99 REFUSED

//ASK IF (RESPFLAG=T AND Q1a1=03) or (RESPFLAG=T AND Q1a2=03) or Q1B=03 or Q1=04, 05//

X1. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day/afternoon/evening.

01 CONTINUE //TERM AS DISP S1 (No such person/never had case)//

//ASK IF Q1A1=99 OR Q1A2=99 OR Q1B=99 OR Q1C=99 or Q1=99 //

X2. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day/afternoon/evening.

01 CONTINUE //GO TO REFUSAL SCREEN//

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

APA. As you may know, the Independent Office of Appeals is independent of any other IRS office and provides a place where disagreements about the application of tax law can be resolved on a fair and impartial basis. This is a survey to give the Independent Office of Appeals feedback on how they can improve the service they provide to customers like you. You should have recently received a letter from Appeals inviting you to take this survey. It should take around 5 minutes. This call may be monitored for quality assurance. May we continue?

01 Yes

02 No, CALL BACK ANOTHER TIME //GO TO CALLBACK SCREEN//

99 REFUSED

//ASK IF APA=99//

X3. Thank you for your time. Have a nice afternoon/evening.

01 CONTINUE // DISPO AS R1//

///ASK IF APA=01///

OMB. Before we begin, we’d like you to know the Independent Office of Appeals and ICF appreciate your time and feedback. If you have questions about this survey, please feel free to email us at IRSAppealsSurvey@icfsurvey.com or call the help line at 1-800-427-4275.

The IRS’s authority for requesting information with this survey is 5 U.S.C. Section 301, and 26 U.S.C. Section 7801, 7803, and 7805. The information you provide will help the Independent Office of Appeals improve its service to taxpayers and practitioners. Providing the information is voluntary and there are no penalties for not answering some or all of the questions.

The information collected may be disclosed as authorized by the routine uses published for the Privacy Act System of Records entitled Treas/IRS 00.001 Correspondence Files and Correspondence Control Files, as published in the Federal Register: September 8, 2015 (Volume 80, Number 173) pages 54065-6. We are also required by law to report to you the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) Control Number for this public information request. That number is 1545-2290.

In addition, if you have any comments about the time used to complete this survey or ways to improve the survey, you may write to the IRS. Let me know at this time if you would like that address. Otherwise, let’s begin.

READ ONLY IF NECESSARY:

Internal Revenue Service

Special Services Section

SE:W:CAR:MP:T:M:S – Room 6129,

1111 Constitution Ave. NW,

Washington, DC 20224

01 CONTINUE

///ASK IF OMB=01///

INTRO3. The next seven questions will ask you to rate your level of agreement with a series of statements. Regardless of the outcome of your appeal, please rate them using the following scale:

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

01 CONTINUE

///ASK IF Q1=02///

POATP. For this survey, please think about the case concerning [TPNAMECLEAN].

01 CONTINUE

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q2. This interaction increased my trust in the Independent Office of Appeals.

01 Strongly agree

02 Agree

03 Neither agree nor disagree

04 Disagree

05 Strongly disagree

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q3. I am satisfied with the service I received from the Independent Office of Appeals.

01 Strongly agree

02 Agree

03 Neither agree nor disagree

04 Disagree

05 Strongly disagree

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q4. My need was addressed.

01 Strongly agree

02 Agree

03 Neither agree nor disagree

04 Disagree

05 Strongly disagree

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q5. It was easy to complete what I needed to do.

01 Strongly agree

02 Agree

03 Neither agree nor disagree

04 Disagree

05 Strongly disagree

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q6. From the first time that I heard from the Appeals Officer, it took a reasonable amount of time to complete my appeal.

01 Strongly agree

02 Agree

03 Neither agree nor disagree

04 Disagree

05 Strongly disagree

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q7. I was treated fairly by the Independent Office of Appeals.

01 Strongly agree

02 Agree

03 Neither agree nor disagree

04 Disagree

05 Strongly disagree

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q8. The Independent Office of Appeals employees that I interacted with were helpful.

01 Strongly agree

02 Agree

03 Neither agree nor disagree

04 Disagree

05 Strongly disagree

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q9. What type of conference would you prefer if you were to come back to the Independent Office of Appeals in the future? [Read list]

01 In-person

02 Telephone

03 Mail

04 Video conference such as WebEx or Zoom

98 DON’T KNOW

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q10. Did the Appeals Officer explain how they are separate from the rest of IRS?

01 Yes

02 No

98 DON’T KNOW

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q11. Whether or not you agree with the decision, did you understand why the Independent Office of Appeals reached the decision it did in your case?

01 Yes

02 No

98 DON’T KNOW

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q12. Did the Appeal Officer consider your side of the dispute?

01 Yes

02 No

98 DON’T KNOW

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q13. Was the Appeals Officer professional?

01 Yes

02 No

98 DON’T KNOW

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q14. Do you have any other comments that you would like to add or suggestions on how to improve the appeal process?

01 Enter response [TEXT BOX]

98 DON’T KNOW

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

Q15. Regardless of the outcome of your appeal, rate your satisfaction with the appeals process on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being very satisfied, 3 neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and 5 very dissatisfied.

01 Very satisfied

02 Somewhat satisfied

03 Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

04 Somewhat dissatisfied

05 Very dissatisfied

98 DON’T KNOW

99 REFUSED

///ASK IF Q1=01 or 02 or 03///

CLOSE. That completes the survey. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day/afternoon/evening.

01 END INTERVIEW

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