Technology to help people

www. marylandtaxes.com

The comptroller's greatest technological achievement in fiscal year
2000 went largely unnoticed, as the calendar rolled to January 1, 2000,
with no adverse impact on the people of Maryland. It was business as usual
for state government's largest data center as the services people depend on,
including state paychecks, vendor payments, and more were provided
without interruption.

But focus on the Y2K rollover didn't keep the comptroller from upgrad-
ing other technology-based services. Upgraded communication services
to the comptroller's branch offices cut the time it took taxpayer service rep-
resentatives to download images of tax returns from eight minutes to a
minute or less.

More than 200,000 taxpayers who file quarterly estimated Mary-
land income tax payments benefited from a new interactive estimated
tax calculator on the Comptroller's Office Web site at www.maryland-
taxes.com. The new feature serves as an online worksheet for taxpayers
who must make estimated payments. After taxpayers enter the relevant
information, their estimated tax calculations are computed automati-
cally, and they can download the form from the Web site.

Taxpayers went online in record numbers — almost 55,000 - in fiscal
year 2000 to file their income tax returns through online tax preparation
services. Tax preparers also filed a record number of Maryland returns
electronically, contributing to a total of almost 408,000 electronically
filed returns. Almost a quarter of a million taxpayers also chose technol-
ogy to get their refund checks faster by selecting direct deposit.

A new Web-enabled credit control system enables wine and liquor
wholesalers to submit credit control reports and lists online. Visitors to
the Comptroller's Office Web site used a variety of other services, down-
loading one million forms and other publications, making 97,000 automated
refund status inquiries, registering new businesses, and more - generat-
ing almost 21 million hits on the site.

COMPTROLLER OF MARYLAND

6