Commonwealth of Virginia: Department of Taxation

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Taxation (VATAX) administers all revenue functions through its ongoing Partnership Project with CGI. The comprehensive program includes electronic tax filing, a state-of-the-art integrated revenue management system, as well as an organizational development and change management program.

The Challenge
In the mid-1990s, officials at VATAX recognized the need to improve customer service and bolster operational efficiency while navigating budget cuts and complex tax laws. At the same time, Virginia had a growing taxpayer base and an aging revenue collection system.

How CGI Helped
CGI designed and implemented VATAX Online, a comprehensive suite of digital customer service tools that integrated customer resource management (CRM) applications into VATAX call centers to create “single view” service for taxpayers, and a modernized collection and remittance system for improved speed, accuracy and efficiency. To help VATAX pay for the project, CGI and VATAX formed the Virginia Partnership Project, an innovative public-private partnership in which CGI provided initial funds for the project and then received compensation as revenue milestones were reached.

The Results
Since its launch, the Virginia Partnership Project has helped VATAX officials and Virginia taxpayers save money with an efficient, paperless system. Additional benefits include:

• Increased taxpayer satisfaction and money saving for the Commonwealth by using iFILE
• Reduction in tax return errors allow for lower handling and operating costs
• Increase in revenues received

The bottom line: CGI’s benefits-funding approach helped Virginia overcome its financial hurdles and transform an aging legacy revenue system into a money-saving, comprehensive revenue management system with increased customer satisfaction.