This paper seeks to identify the effects of Internet used as a vehicle for sending federal tax returns through the RECEITANET program. The benefits that came out from security and costs reduction in the process of delivering tax returns are identified, as well as the impacts on Tax Administration (TA) and on the Treasury‑Taxpayer relationship.

There is a growing interest in the debate over whether or not e‑government has a transformational impact on government performance, governance, and public service, as we addressed this very issue at the 2007 ECEG. However, e‑government research results on the transformational impact are mixed. This may be an apt reflection of either the early stages of e‑government development or the newness of e‑government research field or both. Our research goal as scholars of e‑government must be to penetrate appearances to ascertain whatever lessons and meanings might lie beneath. This paper is an initial attempt toward achieving this goal. The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between public service reform through e‑government and actual government performance. We achieve this objective through a multi‑method approach, including a case study of Japan's National Tax Agency (NTA)`s sophisticated e‑government initiative: an integrated "e‑Tax" system networking the NTA with local tax offices throughout Japan. The "E‑Tax" provides a citizen‑centric, online income and other tax returns filing and payment services for individuals and corporations. A preliminary case analysis provides evidence in support of the transformational impact of e‑Tax on NTA performance. This paper makes an important contribution to the growing e‑government research literature on the transformational impact of e‑government particularly on service process reform.

This mini‑track on e‑Tax and e‑Revenue coincides with the 10th anniversary of the landmark Ottawa meeting. Most concerns then related to widespread tax base erosion due, inter alia, to the anonymity of Internet activity, the high mobility of e‑business and the attraction of tax havens. Most, certainly not all, of these concerns have been allayed since but the debate as to what constitutes a Permanent Establishment (PE), and the level of attributable profits to such a PE, is ongoing. Using a case study scenario approach, I consider the tax issues which a typical MNC would encounter in seeking to reengineer its global activities. The conclusion highlights the need for more specific guidance in this area.

Abstract: This study summarizes and analyses the demographic, socio‑economic, and geographic factors affecting electronic tax filing (e‑filing) in the United States for the years 1999, and 2004…2007 and the growth in e‑filing between 1999 and 2007. Beyo nd the descriptive analysis, two issues related to electronic tax filing are target of further analysis: First, the variables having a positive impact on e‑filing rates and e‑filing growth are analysed. Second, because a more detailed look at state and co unty data indicates high variability within and between states, some demographic, socio‑economic, and geographic variables are examined in more detail. This second question addresses the possibility that e‑filing … just like other initiatives involving el ectronic media … could increase the digital gap. We use zip‑code level e‑filing information and county level demographic, income and unemployment data for each of the years in question. Our findings indicate significant variation in e‑filing rates across and within states, and rapid growth over time. E‑filing rates are found to be lower in rural counties, counties with low population size, counties with a lower share of females, counties with a higher share of Hispanics and Asians, and counties with a hig her share of the elderly population. Surprisingly, educational attainment is negatively correlated with e‑filing rate and growth in e‑filing.

Abstract: Although information technologys impact is evident in the everyday life of citizens and the private sector, the public sector has also gained and is gaining many benefits and could gain even more. Technology and information systems enable e‑gov ernment processes to run more effectively and efficiently, changing organisations structure, people, processes, and regulations. Information systems (IS) are especially efficient in environments where a great amount of data is available and exact calcu lations are needed for many different stakeholders. Such an area in the public sector is obviously the area of taxation. These systems gather a great amount of data from different sources, they need to be reliable and, since a multitude of different users within and outside of the public sector are using them, they have to be user friendly. The aim of the research was to test one such system, called e‑recovery, and the influence of different factors, including the following: user training, user documentat ion, user support, system usability, user interface, system speed, and specific system functionalities. Through empirical quantitative research, we surveyed more than 170 executors that use the e‑recovery system every day. The findings of the statistical analysis of the individual measured indices and correlations between them provide support for these indices and show that the e‑recovery system was well accepted among users and found to be very useful. Users evaluated the majority of the indices as above average but stressed the issue of inadequate training. Users do acknowledge that their work is faster due to e‑recovery system use, but their motivation for work is not affected. The imperfections stressed most often were the occasional system failures, upgrade delays, and connection interruptions, since users access the system through the internet.

This paper describes an ongoing study into the quality of service provided by the Irish Revenue Commisioners' on‑line tax filing and collection system. The Irish Revenue On‑Line Service (ROS) site has won several awards. In this study, a version of the widely used SERVQUAL measuring instrument, adapted for use with on‑line services, has been modified for the specific case of ROS. The theory behind this instrument is set out, the particular problems of evaluating revenue collecting on‑line are examined and the rationale for this approach is explained.

The e‑filing system is an important e‑government service in Malaysia. This paper investigates the factors that lead to the acceptance of e‑filing among taxpayers by using TAM. This study proposes a model consisting of three constructs, which are perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived risk. The model proposed by this study is a simpler model compared to other studies on e‑filing. The confirmatory factor analysis shows that the model is an adequate fit. Based on the data collected from 166 respondents, the results showed that the proposed model explained up to 61% of the variance in behavioral intention. All of the variables significantly influence behavioral intention. The perceived risk construct has a negative association with the perceived usefulness construct. However, there is no significant association between the perceived risk and perceived ease of use constructs.

Revenue, the Irish Tax and Customs Authority, has been developing the use of data mining techniques as part of a process of putting analytics at the core of its business processes. Recent data mining projects, which have been piloted successfully, have de veloped predictive models to assist in the better targeting of taxpayers for possible non‑compliance/ tax evasion, and liquidation. The models aim, for example, to predict the likelihood of a case yielding in the event of an intervention, such as an audit . Evaluation cases have been worked in the field and the hit rate was approximately 75%. In addition, all audits completed by Revenue in the year after the models had been created were assessed using the model probability to yield score, and a significant correlation exists between the expected and actual outcome of the audits. The models are now being developed further, and are in full production in 2011. Critical factors for model success include rigorous statistical analyses, good data quality, softwar e, teamwork, timing, resources and consistent case profiling/ treatments. The models are developed using SAS Enterprise Miner and SAS Enterprise Guide. This work is a good example of the applicability of tools developed for one purpose (e.g. Credit Scori ng for Banking and Insurance) having multiple other potential applications. This paper shows how the application of advanced analytics can add value to the work of Tax and Customs authorities, by leveraging existing data in a robust and flexible way to r educe costs by better targeting cases for interventions. Analytics can thus greatly support the business to make better‑informed decisions.