Accenture to Modernize Maharashtra’s Department of Sales Tax

Accenture has recently secured the rights to a management consulting project of the Maharashtra Government's Department of Sales Tax. The aim of the project will be to streamline processes in order to increase revenue collection. Accenture will simultaneously help in complete automation and upgradation of IT infrastructure of the department. The move is also expected to improve user experience for taxpayers.

Besides improving user experience, the project is also expected to improve business processes and create multiple channels for service delivery. Complete automation of IT infrastructure, including the workflow, will aid in the entire decision-making process for the departmental staff.

When asked how Accenture's expertise will help the Maharashtra Sales Tax Department maximize on its current portfolio, Nilaya Varma, Managing Director, Health and Public Services, Accenture India, replied, "In the case of MSTD, Accenture would work with the department to make the sales tax processes more secure and precise for their dealers. This will not only help regularize payment of taxes but also help the department collect taxes in a more proficient way, improve access to required information and generate awareness which in turn will help policy makers and officials to take proactive decisions so as to benefit all its stakeholders."

The department will also select a service provider as part of a bid process management to upgrade the department's technology infrastructure with the goal of increasing efficiency and updating record maintenance so historical data will be easier to access and identify. Elaborating on the role of the service provider, Varma added, "The department caters to over 725,000 dealers and 1,500,000 enrolled professional taxpayers by employing over 10,000 including 1,400 officers spread across Maharashtra through its 49 offices."

The core functions of each sales tax administration are fundamentally different from each other and therefore, for effective delivery, each function requires staff with different skillsets. The department has now been reorganized by the Government along functional expertise rather than by geography. Under the ‘functional' model, staff members are organized according to specific functions, such as registration, information processing, accounting, audit, enforcement of collections, dispute resolution and others. The role of Accenture will be to understand these processes and design the strategies so as to implement them in an efficient manner and help the Department in identification and coordination with the system integrators so as to automate these functions using the cutting-edge technologies. Dr Nitin Kareer, commissioner of Sales Tax was quoted in the press release issued by Accenture as saying that "besides better control on tax evasion with the help of technology. It will also help in reducing administrative overhead, which is another plus in a time of economic uncertainties."