Yes. Title 13 United States Code, Sections 131 and 193, authorizes this collection. Sections 224 and 225 require your response. The U.S. Census Bureau is required by Section 9 of the same law to keep your information confidential and can use your responses only to produce statistics. The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could identify your business, organization, or institution. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, your data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmit data.
Taken together, small businesses have a real impact on the economy. Your firm or EIN was chosen from a scientifically selected sample of businesses and represents many other small businesses like yours.
Your firm or EIN was chosen from a scientifically selected sample of businesses. Taking a sample is less costly than contacting every business in the country. Firms or EINs selected for the sample represent other similar businesses.
The Census Bureau uses IRS administrative data whenever possible. However, the IRS data does not provide the level of detail or all of the data items in the SBO.
The SBO is the only source of statistics about the demographic characteristics of the owners of approximately 28 million American businesses, including their business organizations and activities. SBO statistics have been produced every 5 years since 1972 and have proven useful in helping to understand changes taking place in our dynamic and growing economy. In addition to comparing business owner demographics, the SBO results help profile changes in business performance and highlight conditions of business success and failure, and compare minority-/nonminority-, women-/men-, and veteran-/nonveteran-owned businesses.
The ethnicity and race categories listed on the Survey of Business Owners questionnaire are consistent with those mandated by the Office of Management and Budget. These standards were developed by both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the Federal Government.
Government program officials, industry organization leaders, economic and social analysts and researchers, and business entrepreneurs are anticipated users of Survey of Business Owners statistics. Examples of data use include:
The SBO is accessible via an electronic reporting tool only. By implementing an electronic-only collection, the Census Bureau is able to reduce the cost of mailing and processing this annual survey. If a respondent does not have a computer or Internet access, we encourage the use of a tablet, smartphone, a family member’s or friend’s computer or public library. If further assistance is needed, please contact our customer help line at 1-888-824-9954, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, Eastern Time. Please note the customer help line is only accessible during the open data collection period.
Yes, carefully prepared estimates are acceptable if book figures are not readily available.
No. The law authorizing this report (Title 13, U.S.C.) does not authorize funds for payment.
You can use the "Back" or the "Save and Continue" buttons to navigate to items immediately following and preceding the current item you are viewing.
When you have completed your survey, at the end of the reporting instrument select the ‘Submit’ button to send your information.
Provide your best estimate if exact values are not available. Your best estimates will still provide useful information to the users of the SBO data results.
Respond with "0" if there is a space that requests an amount and you do not have the activity.
If your company is owned by another company, please select the applicable response in the “Number of Owners” question. You will then be directed to answer the remaining questions that pertain to the business.
Your company was selected because it has operations in the United States and/or reports some activity to the IRS. Please respond to the survey for this portion of the company.
Businesses that reported any business activity on any one of the following Internal Revenue Service tax forms were eligible for selection:
The Survey of Business Owners (SBO) is conducted every five years as part of the economic census. The Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE) is a supplement to the SBO. The ASE introduces a new module each year to capture information on relevant business components.
The SBO samples both employer and nonemployer firms, while the ASE samples employer firms only,. Moreover, the ASE estimates are published in less detail than the SBO, with ASE statistics available only at the U.S., State, and top fifty metro areas level of geography, and at the 2-digit industry sector. For more information please visit the SBO website.