IBM has been selected by Taiwan government to help build a Smart Taxation Service System. As part of IBM's collaboration with Ministry of Finance, the ministry's Financial Data Centre (FDC) has completed the first phase of the Taxation Information System Integration and Reengineering Project (TISIR Project), which was kicked off in 2007.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

In line with the government's "Intelligent Taiwan" project, the TISIR project is part of the government's 10-year initiative to revamp the taxation information system to support the rollout of Smart Taxation Services to its citizens island-wide.

As IBM's first taxation consultancy services and system implementation project in Asia Pacific, the TISIR project is expected to deliver significant cost savings through improvements in taxation processes, service delivery and by building a more cost- and power-efficient data center. To provide the next-generation taxation service in Taiwan, FDC will implement a robust and dynamic system infrastructure for the launch of e-tax filing service next year.

Building an "Intelligent Taiwan"

Under the "Intelligent Taiwan" plan, the government aims to build a service-oriented administration focused on delivering innovative citizen services. In line with this plan, FDC's vision is to become a more customer-oriented and efficient organization by mapping out strategies to enhance tax services, optimize public finance resource utilization, and create value to information. To achieve this, the center has outlined a plan dedicated to service innovation, business model optimization, technology renovation and resources and information integration.

This move will also address the challenges that FDC has been facing as a result of an outdated taxation system. The legacy platform was difficult and expensive to manage and maintain, with data residing in silos. The disparate system also affected inter-agency communication efforts as well as efficiency and morale as, tax officers were tied down by inefficient manual processes. It led to unnecessary duplication of work and data, and cost inefficiencies in the tax filing process for taxpayers as well.

"FDC's data center is the largest in Taiwan. The sheer scale and complexity of its infrastructure calls for cross-department collaboration within the government and support of a large and capable workforce. The upgrading of the finance information system is complicated and the process needs to be well managed as the system is closely linked to the well-being of the Taiwan public," said Paul Liu, Executive of Global Business Services, Partner, IBM Taiwan.

"IBM has a lot of experience working on large-scale, complex transformation projects with public agencies around the world. Our strength in risk management and database consolidation is also the reason why FDC selected IBM as the partner for its innovative taxation information system project."

The Taxation Information System Integration and Reengineering Project

FDC's Taxation Information System Integration and Reengineering Project comprises three phases: planning (two years), deployment (three years) and operational support (five years). More than 300 staff from FDC and relevant tax collection agencies are involved in this initiative. To ensure project success, IBM has outlined a comprehensive implementation strategy focused on:

  --  Offering "one-stop service": Taxpayers will be able to perform a
      variety of tasks via one platform, as well as retrieve information
      from other government agencies and systems through a wide variety of
      channels (e.g. Web sites, service counters, telephone voice service,
      e-mails and text messages). This new service platform is expected to
      slash over-the-counter tax filing and payment, manual examination and
      data entry costs by 20 percent within three years of launch. It will
      also reduce social costs directly and indirectly associated with tax
      collection by NT$602 million.


  --  Expanding online tax filing services: In addition to general income
      tax filing capabilities, FDC plans to extend e-tax filing and payment
      services to other types of taxes. This will achieve transportation and
      time equivalent to saving of NT$213 million for its citizens.


  --  Enabling inter-agency collaboration: FDC aims to facilitate the search
      and sharing of information between government agencies via automated
      data transmission channels based on the Government Service Platform
      and an e-data exchange system. This is expected to reduce tax
      processing costs by NT$179 million and inter-agency coordination costs
      by NT$2.378 billion.


  --  Reforming the taxation process: The project team will conduct a
      comprehensive analysis to streamline and automate the taxation
      process. This will decrease the amount of tax audits required and
      improve the quality of the tax examination process, thereby reducing
      the workload of tax auditors and administrators.


  --  Deploying event-based risk management mechanism: Automated alerts will
      trigger timely exception management, which will reduce time needed for
      tax examination and audits, increase effectiveness of risk management
      efforts, and minimize tax evasions. A total of NT$3.6 billion in
      savings is expected.


  --  Providing taxpayer-centered, centralized information: FDC will provide
      both tax administrators and citizens with taxpayer-focused information
      which consolidates inter-agency and inter-region taxation data
      spanning different tax types and years.


  --  Establishing a centralized taxation information platform and database:
      This will accelerate decision-making, lower system installation and
      maintenance costs, and strengthen information security. This in turn
      will lower the electricity consumption of FDC's data center by 40
      percent.

  About Intelligent Taiwan

The Cabinet of Taiwan government has earmarked NT$3.99 trillion for the "i-Taiwan 12 major infrastructure projects" within eight years, a major election promise of President Ma Ying-jeou. The 12 projects: a fast and convenient island-wide transportation network, Kaohsiung port-city regeneration, central region new high-tech industrial cluster, Taoyuan international air city, Intelligent Taiwan, industrial innovation corridors, urban and industrial park regeneration, farm village regeneration, coastal regeneration, green afforestation, flood prevention and water management, and sewer construction.

For more information on the Financial Data Center, please visit: www.fdc.gov.tw.

  For more information on IBM, please visit: www.ibm.com


  Media Contacts:
  Vineeta Durani
  IBM Corporation
  917-472-3694
  vineeta.durani@us.ibm.com

  Lisa Chen
  IBM Taiwan
  +886-2-8723-9422
  lisachen@tw.ibm.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: vineeta.durani@us.ibm.com

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/

SOURCE: IBM Corporation