IFTA e-Filing:
A Business Case
Presented by
Laura Haney – Utah
Meg Cronk – New York
IFTA Managers’ Workshop and Law Enforcement Seminar
September 21-24, 2005
Agenda
• e-Filing Considerations
• Cost/Benefit Analysis
• Getting Started
• Selecting a Vendor
• Implementation Activities
• Benefits
• Testimonials
• Lessons Learned
• Questions & Answers
e-Filing Considerations
Available Funds
•Consider grants and state funding for web services
•Consider base fee increase
Legislative Support
•Consider state legislative initiatives
Public Demand
•Investigate use of other online services for your
jurisdiction (IRP, OSOW, etc.)
•Send surveys and conduct focus groups
•Government is focusing on good customer service
e-Filing Considerations
(continued)
Expense Reductions
•
•
•
•
Mail fulfillment
Decrease in office traffic
FTE redeployment
Fewer satellite locations needed for customer
service
• The more taxpayers that e-file, the more cost
effective the program becomes.
Cost Savings
Due to the complexity and dataintensive nature of the paper reports,
historically, the rate in New York ran
about 35 to 40%. Since October of
2002, IFTA E-file has realize a savings
of approximately 3000 IFTA error
reports.
Cost Savings
Utah will save $1.50 per return filed
on line.
Motor Carriers will reduce their filing
time by about 30%
NEW YORK E-FILE – E-PAY STATISTICS
New York
Average amount of IFTA Taxpayers: 9892
Taxpayers using IFTA e-file
Qtr
3Q02
4Q02
1Q03
2Q03
3Q03
4Q03
1Q04
2Q04
3Q04
4Q04
1Q05
2Q05
#of E-filers
679
609
838
833
984
951
920
878
855
957
1020
1024
% of E-filers
7%
6%
8%
8%
10%
10%
9%
8%
8%
10%
10%
10%
Taxpayers using IFTA E-pay
Qtr
1Q05
2Q05
# of E-filers
62
89
% of E-filers
.006%
.009%
Connecticut
Average amount of IFTA Taxpayers: 2889
Qtr
3Q04
4Q04
1Q05
2Q05
#of E-filers
252
208
215
213
% of E-filers
9%
7%
7%
7%
Alabama
Average amount of IFTA Taxpayers: 4346
Qtr
4Q04
1Q05
2Q05
#of E-filers
808
897
1014
% of E-filers
19%
21%
23%
E-pay is currently available only to New York E-file taxpayers. We anticipate rolling E-pay out to all our E-file jurisdictions in
the future.
Getting Started
Identify Implementation Team
•Implementation Lead
•Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
•Technical Resources
Getting Started (continued)
Determine Requirements
•Review internal business processes
•Review features of existing system
•Prioritize requirements
•Consider technical, functional, and service
requirements
•Investigate capabilities of your own IT shop
creating an on online system. Is a vendor
necessary?
Getting Started (continued)
Determine Implementation Timing
•Finalize testing during low processing month
Select a Software Provider
•Ensure software provider can meet:
•Timing requirements
•Cost expectations
•Functional and technical requirements
•Can you meet the requirements of the software
provider?
Identify Metrics to Measure Progress
Implementation Activities
Plan for time involved with:
•Status meetings
•Requirements discussions
•Technical environment setup
•User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
•Coordinating initial pilot
•Staff and carrier training
•Managing business process changes
•Supporting new users
Benefits
•Increases carrier customer service
•Reduces data entry for Jurisdiction
•Reduces average credential issuance time
•Reduces rate of delinquent credentials
•Reduces number of hours to process return
•Reduces the average cost of issuing
credentials
•Meets legislative mandates
Testimonials
•“On-line filing is simple and easy to
use. The system is time-friendly, user
friendly and good at explaining steps
to take.”
•“IFTA E-file is easy to use.”
•“I like that it (the IFTA E-file program)
does all the tax computations.”
Lessons Learned
•Make sure resources are available and
committed to the initiative
•Fully and clearly define requirements
•Keep internal staff and carriers
informed of progress
•Leverage other’s e-Filing experiences
Questions and Answers
•Open Discussion