gaining efficiency from technology budgets are being slashed but workloads are not changing. ...
TRANSCRIPT
Gaining Efficiency from Technology
Budgets are being slashed but workloads are not changing. Government can not afford not to invest in new Technology.
Technology is no longer a nice thing to have it is a requirement to keep up with growing demands.
Budget Cuts and more Budget Cuts
Areas that can see an immediate productivity boost: Audit
• Taxpayers• Employees
Filing and Payment• Less need for employee involvement with public taxpayer
Communication between departments• Elimination of duplicate entry in multiple offices
Technology and Tourist Development Tax
Taxpayers• Use Automation to trigger events
• Letters & Emails – Delinquency, Registration, etc.• Rise Agreement
• Use the tools you have to track down additional revenue • Run comparison reports to identify Taxpayers that have
registered with DOR but forgot to register with the County
Increasing Audit Efficiency
Stretching what you have
1. Search – It takes minutes to find short-term rentals in your County. Simple compare your findings with the addresses that you have registered.
2. Efficient tracking of delinquency accounts –Allow trigger points in an account to notify you when the account needs your attention.
3. ‘Neighborhood watch program’ – Counties have decreased ability to go into the field and track people down, use the community.
4. Field Work – By letting the system take some of the workload off of the Audit team there will be more availability for field time to track down offenders.
Increasing Audit Efficiency
Employees• In an electronic workplace all system tasks have a trail. No more “I
think I waived this fee because…” • Great training tool to identify weaknesses that need attention
Increasing Audit Efficiency
Increasing Audit Efficiency
Employees• In an electronic workplace all system tasks have a trail. No more “I
think I waived this fee because…” • Great training tool to identify weaknesses that need attention• Each user has a secure username and password• Once authenticated all actions are tracked and stored in an audit file
Audit Benefits
Online Filing opens doors to new practices and new collections
All of the taxpayer and payment information is stored in a database allowing a wide variety of quick searches and reporting
More accurate and up to date account and property information allows for better comparison and tracking of properties in compliance/non-compliance
More time for researching and tracking down those owners not in compliance
System can be used as a preemptive measure as well as an enforcement tool
Increasing Audit Efficiency
Increasing Audit Efficiency
Audit Benefits (cont.)
Locating “suspect” properties by electronically comparing data
• Easy and quick searches on all property/owner fields
• RISE reports
• Other County databases (PAO, building codes)
Notice Generation
• Exceptions
• New construction
• Non-homesteaded properties
What will the efficiencies look like?
Give taxpayers secure 24/7 access to real time account information
Provide taxpayers with an easy to follow user interface for filing tax returns and making payments
Reduce the amount of paper required to process a return Eliminate taxpayer calculation errors by auto-calculating each tax return
Reduce data entry errors
Speed up the collection cycle by providing immediate access to funds
Increase the speed and efficiency of the entire process of Tourist Development Tax collection
Filing and Payments Made Easy
Filing and Payments Made Easy
Ability for the taxpayer to self-register – No how-to calls to your staff
Filing and Payments Made Easy
24/7 Access to account information
Filing and Payments Made Easy
Eliminate calculation errors by auto-calculating each tax return
Adoption of Online Filing and Payments
• Quick acceptance with little promotion• DOR collection• Easy interface
Acceptance increases with various promotions:• notices• training• online tutorials• online documentation
Filing and Payments Made Easy
Filing and Payments Made Easy
Allows taxpayers to make payments 24/7 reducing the risk of late payments
Eliminates the possibility of lost or stolen checks
Ensures timely and accurate posting of tax payments
Encourages taxpayers to submit return early by allowing them to select a future settlement date
Helps to ensure security and confidentiality for all transactions
eChecks
ACH
Credit Cards
Filing and Payments Made Easy
FACC
Many merchants are available to assist you in processing electronic payments.
Charging Convenience Fees
Electronic payment processing usually involves processing fees. These can be assessed per transaction or per batch.
You can pass these fees onto the taxpayer by labeling it as a “Convenience Fee”.
It is important to note that this fee must be consistent with all payment types if Visa is accepted.
• No merchant accepting Visa, whether a mom-and-pop store or a government body, may establish a surcharge for any Visa (credit) transaction.
Filing and Payments Made Easy
Tax Return information is securely transmitted electronically replacing the paper coupon.
Acceptance of electronic payments (echeck, ACH, Credit, Debit, etc.) ensuring timely and secure filing of taxes
Filing and Payments Made Easy
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology protects your Web site and makes it easy for customers to trust you.
• An SSL Certificate ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private.
• The SSL Certificate encrypts sensitive information during online transactions.
• Every SSL Certificate is issued by a Certificate Authority that verifies the identity of the certificate owner
Filing and Payments Made Easy
Benefits
Better use of Employee time
The ease of online filing increases the likelihood of taxpayer compliance
• Less time spent processing returns
Increased automation results in an improved audit trail
• Less time spent tracking down who, what, when
Taxpayers are encouraged to keep their account information up to date
• Allows for better tracking of compliant/non-compliant taxpayers
• Better data to share with RISE
Digital information can be searched and compared much easier than paper
Counties that are currently using the Technologies discussed
Florida Counties using our Excise system which is equipped with Online Filing capabilities.
• Bay County• Orange County• Manatee County• Santa Rosa County• Walton County• Okaloosa County• Lee County