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OMB Control No: 1545-2212	ICR Reference No: 202001-1545-015
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201801-1545-001
Agency/Subagency: TREAS/IRS	Agency Tracking No:
Title: IRS Taxpayer Burden Surveys
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved without change	Conclusion Date: 05/08/2020
Retrieve Notice of Action (NOA)	Date Received in OIRA: 03/09/2020
Terms of Clearance:

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	05/31/2023	36 Months From Approved	05/31/2021
Responses	225,246	0	58,000
Time Burden (Hours)	109,659	0	17,550
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: Each year, individual taxpayers in the United States submit more than 140 million tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS uses the information in these returns, recorded on roughly one hundred distinct forms and supporting schedules, to administer a tax system whose rules span thousands of pages. Managing such a complex and broad-based tax system is costly but represents only a fraction of the total burden of the tax system. Equally, if not more burdensome, is the time and out-of-pocket expenses that taxpayers spend in order to comply with tax laws and regulations. Changes in tax regulations, tax administration, tax preparation methods, and taxpayer behavior continue to alter the amount and distribution of taxpayer burden. The purpose of these surveys is to gather data that will be used to update and expand the IRS Taxpayer Burden Model, a robust predictive model based on an improved burden estimation methodology. Information gathered by the surveys is not available in the administrative tax return data, so survey data are a critical input to the model. The survey data are not viewed discretely. Rather, because the data are used as inputs to the Taxpayer Burden Model, they provide an end-to-end, taxpayer facing view of compliance burden. The related behavioral studies further inform IRS’s understanding of taxpayer behavior, inform burden model design, and help IRS improve processes and identify opportunities to reduce taxpayer burden.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 26 USC 6103 Name of Law: Confidentiality and disclosure of returns and return information

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	84 FR 63961	11/19/2019
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	85 FR 11178	02/26/2020
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate
Annual Number of Responses	225,246	58,000	205,246	-38,000
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	109,659	17,550	99,859	-7,750
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Increase Due to: Miscellaneous Actions

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: The survey scope is expanded to include burden for surveys associated with all taxpayer segments. This will create an increase in the estimated responses by 205,246 and increase the estimated burden by 99,859 hours. 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, similar to what is currently done for OMB numbers 1545-0074, 1545-0123, and 1545-0047. Adjustments made to the estimates previously provided will result in a decrease in the estimated responses by 38,000 and 7,750 burden hours.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $3,875,000

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? Yes Part B of Supporting Statement

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

Agency Contact: Brenda Schafer 202 803-9412

View ICR - OIRA Conclusion