5 Ways Local Governments Can Simplify Tax Filing for Their Community

From business taxes to lodging taxes, streamlining tax filing has the potential to help local governments collect revenue they may not otherwise have received. For the short-term rental industry alone, cities and counties across North America are potentially missing out on significant sums of uncollected taxes by not having a streamlined tracking and collection system in place.

Simplicity is the main objective here: The easier it is for tax filers to find the information they need—and the fewer steps they need to take to file—the timelier the delivery of taxes. A simplified system also eases the labor burden for staff, reducing the time that goes into processing filings compared to traditional paper methods, while giving leadership better real-time data and reports on remittance. It’s a win-win for both local governments and the communities they serve.

Here are five ways to make tax filing easier for the public:

1. Provide Clear and Concise Instructions

Eliminating confusion goes a long way towards helping taxpayers file their taxes correctly the first time around. The clearer the instructions, the less likely it is that agencies will encounter issues like missing data and incorrect information, both of which slow down the filing process and increase the labor burden on staff.

2. Make It Easy to Find Forms and Resources

Where are your forms and other tax filing resources? How easy is it for a taxpayer to locate them? Are they all in the same place? The tax process can be complex–particularly in nascent, rapidly-growing industries like short-term rentals, where ordinances and requirements can change from year to year.

For individuals who may not thoroughly understand the tax code, keeping your forms and resources in one easy-to-locate place can help with the confusion and subsequent delays from issues like calculation mistakes.

3. Offer Electronic Filing Options

We are in an increasingly paperless world, and most people seek out electronic methods to complete tasks like tax filing before pursuing other, often more cumbersome, avenues.

Providing electronic options eases the burden of tax work for filers and increases the likelihood of compliance. Given that a manual process is often error-prone, online tax filing solutions offer features to help prevent such issues, including:

• Required fields so data is less likely to be missing
• Simplified forms and auto-calculations that reduce the number of math errors
• Penalty calculations, which, if missed, would reduce tax revenue
• Automated invoices and direct deposits to government accounts

4. Simplify the Process With a Tax Portal

Complicating tax filing and collection with a series of separate systems and processes makes the task more complex for users and staff, and can be a contributor to drops in overall remittance. In addition to simplifying tax filing, an easy-to-use tax portal features numerous other benefits, including increased security and bulk filing capabilities.

5. Partner With the Right Platform

Whether you’re making a full transition from paper to digital or simply migrating siloed digital processes into one unified platform, streamlining tax filing can be cumbersome and lengthy for local governments. It doesn’t have to be, though.

Choosing the right partner who can guide you through the steps and the right platform for the job can make the setup as smooth as possible. When exploring vendors and platforms, ask questions like:

• How involved is the vendor in the transition? (Consider the entire workflow in this evaluation—from the initial onboarding process to training to ongoing follow-up after the migration is complete.)
• How intuitive is the system for both government staff and tax filers?
• How lengthy is the training process likely to be for your department?
• What level of security does the vendor’s platform offer?
• How available is the vendor when you and/or tax filers need assistance?
• Are the features that are most important to your department available in the system?

Easier Tax Filing Helps Local Governments and Communities

Making filing easier for taxpayers has numerous benefits for local governments. Learn how Neumo can guide you through every step of the process to streamline different aspects and types of tax filing.