[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 93 (Wednesday, May 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27686-27687]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11077]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

May 8, 2014.
    The Department of the Treasury will submit the following 
information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13, on or after the date of 
publication of this notice.

DATES: Comments should be received on or before June 13, 2014 to be 
assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: Send comments regarding the burden estimate, or any other 
aspect of the information collection, including suggestion for reducing 
the burden, to (1) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office 
of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for Treasury, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, or email 
at [email protected] and (2) Treasury PRA Clearance Officer, 
1750 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Suite 8140, Washington, DC 20220, or email 
at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the submission(s) may be 
obtained by calling (202) 927-5331, email at [email protected], or the 
entire information collection request maybe found at www.reginfo.gov.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

    OMB Number: 1545-2212.
    Type of Review: Revision.
    Title: IRS Taxpayer Burden Surveys
    Abstract: The IRS is developing improved methods for measuring, 
estimating, and modeling taxpayer burden. The data collected from this 
survey of individual taxpayers will be used as an input to a micro-
simulation model that estimates taxpayer burden. The IRS will also 
publish the relevant updated burden estimates in tax form instructions 
to inform taxpayers. Three types of questions will be asked: questions 
framing the activities to be measured, burden measurement questions, 
and questions to better inform taxpayer needs related to their 
compliance burden.
    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 citizens spend in order to comply 
with tax laws and regulations.
    The IRS has conducted prior surveys of individual taxpayers in 
1984, 1999, 2000, 2007. Changes in tax regulations, tax administration, 
tax preparation methods, and taxpayer behavior continue to alter the 
amount and distribution of taxpayer burden. To update our understanding 
of this burden, the IRS contracted Westat to survey individual 
taxpayers regarding the time and money taxpayers spend in response to 
their federal income tax obligations. We intend to conduct an updated 
survey to better reflect the current tax rules and regulations, the 
increased usage of tax preparation software, increased efficiency of 
such software, changes in tax preparation regulations, the increased 
use of electronic filing, the behavioral response of taxpayers to the 
tax system, the changing use of services, both IRS and external, and 
related information collection needs.
    The purpose of the IRS entity surveys is to provide Congress and 
the President with accurate estimates of the costs incurred by 
corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, tax-exempt 
organizations, and government entities in complying with federal rules 
and regulations.
    The critical items on the survey concern respondents' time and cost 
burden estimates for complying with tax filing regulations. Additional 
items on the survey will serve as contextualizing variables for 
interpretation of the burden items. These items include information 
regarding tax preparation methods and activities, tax-related 
recordkeeping, gathering materials, learning about tax law, using IRS 
and/or non-IRS taxpayer services, and tax form completion.
    The creation of these new surveys will result in a total estimated 
burden increase of 6,871 hours and 36,810 annual responses.

[[Page 27687]]

    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 23,696.

Robert Dahl,
Treasury PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-11077 Filed 5-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4830-01-P