Incomes

were

averaging

nearly

$29,000

by 1990.

In 1997,

Maryland

ranked first in

the nation for

successfully

applying digital

technologies

to taxation,

according to the

Progress and

Freedom

Foundation.

By 1996, one
out of five
Americans
was surfing
the Internet

he State Comptroller's Office
took advantage of high-tech
advances in the 1990s and inte-
grated several technologies to cut
costs, boost efficiency and improve
service to Mary-
land taxpayers.

In 1991,
Marylanders
expecting refunds
could begin filing
their state income
tax forms elec-
tronically through
commercial
preparers.

Two years
later, the agency
developed a
consolidated tax
administration
system that

dramatically
streamlined

Maryland's pioneering tax form imaging
system dramatically streamlined the
processing returns for taxpayers after
the system was introduced in 1993.

Photo by Michael Walsh

processing,

saving tax dollars. That advance
coincided with a pioneering
process for imaging tax forms that
attracted international attention.

By 1996,2.2 million Mary-
land taxpayers enjoyed more ways
than ever to receive state tax forms
and information - from countertops
to cyberspace.

In addition to the agency's
Forms-by-Fax service, taxpayers
could download forms, publica-
tions and other tax information 24
hours a day - seven days a week -
from the comptroller's Internet
web site at www.comp.state.md.us.
They could also e-mail tax ques-
tions directly to the taxpayer

service section.

70

Personal tax help remained a
reliable trademark for the comptrol-
ler as he opened his 20th branch
office in New Carrollton. Also in
1996, sales and use tax revenue
collected from
about 79,800
licensed accounts
exceeded $2 billion.
Many businesses
could file sales tax
returns by, tele-
phone - if they did
not owe sales taxes.

In 1997, the
comptroller pro-
vided state income
tax forms on CD-
ROM for the first
time to professional
tax preparers.
Maryland taxpayers
also became the first
in the nation to be
able to use their

PCs to request an extension of time
to file their state return, prompting
29,000 online requests.

With more than half of all of
state income tax withholding and
sales and use tax revenue being
received by electronic funds
transfer, the State Comptroller's
Office has earned a a pioneering
role in America's digital revolution.

Looking ahead

direct deposit
electronic filers

interactive busines
tax registration service