Wisconsin s Path to Integrated Tax Administration Oskar Anderson Vicki R. Siekert Wisconsin Department of Revenue FTA Technology Conference Albuquerque, NM August 13-16, 2006 Cowpath versus Interstate 1996 action plan 1998 vendor selection and master plan 1999 sales and use tax requirements for custom build 2000 vendor change 2002 sales and use tax transfer system implemented 2003 individual income requirements defined 2005 vendor change 2006 3 tax types in 2007 3 tax types planned 1
Project Positives We are within the original budget allocated We have had consistent executive support The project has generated more revenue than it has cost We have great business area participation We have successfully implemented many projects within the framework web-filing, telefiling, data warehouse, electronic funds transfer, credit card payment, XML file transfer, etc. We are very satisfied with our current direction Wisconsin s Integration Architecture Tax type silos Hardware/software silos Organizational silos Common customer channels Common processing engines Common data management 2
Wisconsin s Integration Architecture Scanned Web Web Page Page Telefile File Transfer (XML) Directly Administered Taxes (GENTAX) Other Processing Engine ODS Integrated Channel Mgmt e-wow developed by Revenue since 2002 FormsDesigner allows users to create form mapping & write data validation rules Methods for accepting data: GenericFile, end user fill-in-the-form operation FileTransfer, web page SOAP messaging for data transfer Adding REST-based Web Service for automated transfer 3
Integrated Channel Mgmt e-wow, continued Filing base Accepts input from all data input channels Batch jobs extract data for processing systems E-Viewer which allows users to see submitted data merged with PDF template FormsDesign database accessed by all these applications Now supports 21 applications Integrated Channel Mgmt 4
Integrated Channel Mgmt Lessons Learned Empowering user to develop their own e-filing applications leads to rapid expansion Structure is transportable to non-tax applications in other agencies (already provided to WI Dept. of Regulation & Licensing, Dept. of Commerce & Dept of Transportation) Integrated Processing Worked on project plan & requirements for a custom build with one vendor for 2 years Worked with a different vendor to implement transfer product for sales tax and business registration in late 2002 Spent a year defining modifications for income tax before changing direction again RFB for COTS system issued in early 2005 5
Integrated Processing Now implementing GenTax from Fast Enterprises Project started on 5/2/05 Implemented: Corporation income/franchise on 12/31/05 Premier resort area tax on 4/3/06 Local exposition center tax, state rental vehicle fee & regional transit authority fee on 6/26/06 Integrated Processing Scheduled rollouts Individual income tax and fiduciary on 11/13/06 Partnership & estate taxes & composite income forms on 4/30/06 After that, hope to move on to remaining tax programs 6
Integrated Processing Lessons learned Start data cleanup as soon as you start even thinking about new software Start writing data extraction routines as soon as you start even thinking about new software Start burst testing as soon as you have software, it is an awesome training tool Start training as soon as you start your project and don t stop until well after implementation Don t blink in the starting block Integrated Processing Lessons Learned Don t be afraid to change direction, and don t hesitate too long FAST s development schedule means quick results, but doesn t allow much time for process improvement if you haven t already thought about that Design a cool logo 7
Integrated 2000 Pilot to combine data from corporation income returns & sales tax returns in Business Objects software to aid audit selection 2003 Proof of concept combining data from income tax returns, DOT and property records for one county to identify income nonfilers 2005 Acquired SAS software and consulting to develop Tax Compliance Infrastructure (TCI) 2006 TCI Phase 1 loaded WI income tax return data, WI electronically filed W-2 s, IMF/IRTF data Integrated 2006 TCI Phase 2 loaded IRMF data (W-2, 1099 and K-1) 2006 TCI Phase 3 will load DOT data (driver license, plate, and vehicle title) 2006 Work with SAS s Decision Analytics Team on data mining 2006 Integrate business tax data from Business Objects pilot into TCI 8
Integrated Lessons Learned warehouse can support asset & taxpayer location, risk management for collection staff in addition to audit selection You need technical tool-oriented people and customer friendly data-analysis people in your warehouse team mart definition is crucial source agreements are crucial Project Challenges IT projects don t happen in a vacuum; nor even in a protected space Statewide server consolidation project Statewide ERP project Problems with IT projects at other agencies, media scrutiny Statewide IT audit 9
Project Challenges The longer the timeline, the more things can change Changes in executive sponsorship Key staff changes at both agency and vendor Changing requirements because of law changes, policy changes, etc. Changes in management of vendor Project Challenges Sales and Use tax distribution errors to counties and stadium districts What to do when your project is on the front page (it s usually not good) Present a consistent message Try to replace fiction with facts (I did say try) Maintain perspective Deal with the problems 10
Custom build vs. transfer product vs. commercial-off-the-shelf product Been there, done that with all three Things that we re happy about with current COTS product Fast implementation time Company improves application based on multiple state experience Enough flexibility in product to meet our needs Quality contractor staff relocated to our site Questions? To contact us: Oskar Anderson Phone: 608-266-0218 E-mail: oanderso@dor.state.wi.us Vicki R. Siekert Phone: 608-264-9907 E-mail: vsiekert@dor.state.wi.us 11