2025 Supporting Statement 1545-2286

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Relief for Service in Combat Zone and

for Presidentially Declared Disaster

OMB # 1545-2286

1. CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSITATING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION

This collection covers the regulations under section 7508 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), relating to postponement of certain acts by reason of service in a combat zone, and section 7508A, relating to postponement of certain tax-related deadlines by reason of a Presidentially

declared disaster. Section 7508A was added to the Code by section 911 of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, Public Law 105–34 (111 Stat. 788 (1997)), effective for any period for performing an act that had not expired before August 5, 1997.

In general, section 7508 provides that the time individuals serve in a combat zone plus 180 days will be disregarded in determining whether acts listed in section 7508(a)(1), such as filing returns, paying taxes, filing certain petitions with the Tax Court, filing a claim for credit or refund, bringing suit, and assessing tax, are performed within the time prescribed.

Taxpayers use Form 15109 to request tax deferment benefits for serving in a combat zone, a qualified contingency operation, or at a hazardous duty station.

2. USE OF DATA

This information is required for the IRS to determine whether good cause exists to suspend compliance actions, such as audits or enforced collections, until 180 days after the taxpayer has left the zone.

3. USE OF IMPROVED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE BURDEN

Taxpayers, including Civilian taxpayers working with U.S. Armed Forces, qualifying for such combat zone relief may also notify the IRS directly of their status through a special e-mail address: combatzone@irs.gov. Additionally, Form 15109 can be filed using the IRS Document Upload Tool.

4. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION

The information obtained through this collection is unique and is not already available for use or adaptation from another source. We have attempted to eliminate duplication within the agency wherever possible.

5. METHODS TO MINIMUZE BURDEN ON SMALL BUSINESSES OR OTHER SMALL ENTITIES

There are no small entities affected by this collection.

6. CONSEQUENCES OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION ON FEDERAL PROGRAMS OR POLICY ACTIVITIES

The consequences are that the IRS will be unable to verify proper tax reporting and will need to collect this data through other means. This will compromise the Agency’s ability to enforce tax compliance and ensure proper tax reporting by taxpayers. This could result in tax penalties to the taxpayers and inconsistent reporting of data. Tax compliance is a vital part of the government’s ability to meet its’ mission and serve the public.

7. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRING DATA COLLECTION TO BE INCONSISTENT WITH GUIDELINES IN 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2)

There are no special circumstances requiring data collection to be inconsistent with Guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8. CONSULTATION WITH INDIVIDUALS OUTSIDE OF THE AGENCY ON AVAILABILITY OF DATA, FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION, CLARITY OF INSTRUCTIONS AND FORMS, AND DATA ELEMENTS

In response to the Federal Register Notice (90 FR 14322), dated March 31, 2025, we received one comment during the comment period regarding Form 15109. The full comment is included within the submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The summary of the comments and the IRS responses is below:

Jasmine Stuart

Director of External and Legislative Affairs

Comment Number	Summary of public comment	IRS response
	The Commissioned Officers Association of the USPHS has a comment related to Federal Register Volume 90, Number 60 (Monday, March 31, 2025). Can you please advise whether the form in question, 15109, applies to USPHS Commissioned Corps officers?	With regards to a response to the inquiry/question, Form 15109 is generally completed by individuals requesting a tax deferment based on their service in a combat zone, contingency operation, or qualified hazardous duty area according to Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 7508 & as defined in IRC Section 112. Individuals who are members of a uniformed service, such as with the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS) may be eligible military tax benefits. However, they should review IRS Publication 3, Armed Forces Tax Guide & consult with their servicing human resources department to determine their options.

9. EXPLANATION OF DECISION TO PROVIDE ANY PAYMENT OR GIFT TO RESPONDENTS

No payment or gift has been provided to any respondents.

10. ASSURANCE OF CONFIDENTIALITY OF RESPONSES

Generally, tax returns and tax return information are confidential as required by 26 USC 6103. Information is to be supplied to a state regulatory authority that would control the confidentiality of the information.

11. JUSTIFICATION OF SENSITIVE QUESTIONS

A privacy impact assessment (PIA) has been conducted for information collected under this request as part of the “Individual Master File (IMF)” system and a Privacy Act System of Records notice (SORN) has been issued for this system under IRS 24.030-Individual Master File. The Internal Revenue Service PIAs can be found at http://www.irs.gov/uac/Privacy-Impact-Assessments-PIA.

Title 26 USC 6109 requires inclusion of identifying numbers in returns, statements, or other documents for securing proper identification of persons required to make such returns, statements, or documents and is the authority for social security numbers (SSNs) in IRS systems.

12. ESTIMATED BURDEN OF INFORMATION COLLECTION

The estimated total annual reporting burden for this collection of information is 6,600 hours and the estimated average annual burden hours per respondent is 20 minutes.

OMB Collection	Authority	Form	Annual Responses	Hours per Response	Total Burden
IRS 1545-2286	IRC 7508	15109	20,000	.33	6,600
	IRS TOTAL		20,000		6,600

Please continue to assign OMB number 1545-2286 to these regulations.

301.7508-1

301.7508a-1

13. ESTIMATED TOTAL ANNUAL COST BURDEN TO RESPONDENTS

To ensure more accuracy and consistency across its information collections, IRS is currently in the process of revising the methodology it uses to estimate burden and costs. Once this methodology is complete, IRS will update this information collection to reflect a more precise estimate of burden and costs.

14. ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
    
    

Cost estimate for product development is based on a model that considers the following three cost factors for each information product: aggregate labor costs for development, including annualized startup expenses, operating and maintenance expenses, and distribution of the product that collects the information. The costs to the Federal government will vary depending on whether the IRS will incur printing or copying costs for all the materials. These costs do not include any activities such as taxpayer assistance and enforcement. IRS estimates have determined that the cost of developing, printing, distribution and overhead for the form is $11,957.

15. REASONS FOR CHANGE IN BURDEN

There is no change in the paperwork burden previously approved by OMB. We are making this submission to renew the OMB renewal.

16. PLANS FOR TABULATION, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION

There are no plans for tabulation, statistical analysis and publication.

17. REASONS WHY DISPLAYING THE OMB EXPIRATION DATE IS INAPPROPRIATE

IRS believes that displaying the OMB expiration date is inappropriate because it could cause confusion by leading taxpayers to believe that the collection sunsets as of the expiration date. Taxpayers are not likely to be aware that the IRS intends to request renewal of the OMB approval and obtain a new expiration date before the old one expires.

18. EXCEPTIONS TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

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