Governor Carcieri Announces Comprehensive Tax Compliance Program

07-09-2008

“Compliance 2010 – Revenue for Rhode Island’s Future”

Governor Donald L. Carcieri today announced the launch of “Compliance 2010 – Revenue for Rhode Island’s Future,” the State’s new comprehensive tax compliance program to bring more taxpayers into compliance with Rhode Island tax laws.

“Compliance 2010 uses 21st century technology to identify delinquent and underreporting taxpayers and to bring new taxpayers onto the rolls during the next two fiscal years,” the Governor said today. “The ability to coordinate state and federal tax information will help the State recoup an estimated $10 million in revenue and identify upwards of 10,000 noncompliant taxpayers.”

The Compliance 2010 initiative uses a centralized date warehouse system to gather and update tax information collected from all sources, including the Rhode Island Secretary of State and the federal government. Once collected, the system will identify individuals and corporations who may not have filed tax returns or have underreported income. The data warehousing system was funded by the General Assembly in 2007.

According to Gary Sasse, the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Revenue, “The primary goal of the data warehouse is to create an environment where all information used by Taxation is centralized and standardized with updates from a variety of data sources, allowing thorough and comprehensive identification and collection.”

Compliance 2010 is a 10-point plan that balances enforcement with taxpayer education that covers several areas including personal income tax, business taxes, audits and collections.

The system will identify individuals who may have never filed or have underreported income; businesses that have never filed a Rhode Island business tax return or underreported income on a state income tax form; and businesses that do not report or underreport income, sales or withholding taxes.

The data warehouse’s analytical tools will ensure that individuals and businesses pay no more or no less than the tax owed, as well as to communicate with taxpayers when a federal audit requires an amended state return be filed.

“Over the past few years, several states have seen an increase in revenue utilizing a data warehouse system such as this for tax compliance issues, resulting in tens of millions of dollars of recouped and new revenue,” continued Sasse.