Streamlined Business Tax Non-Filer Resolution Process

About the Program

Category: Financial Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

Henrico County’s Business Section within the Finance Department balances customer service, compliance, and revenue generation by administering business license and other local taxes. These taxes represent approximately $90 million of annual, local revenue. Each year, approximately 5,000 entities, of which 1,100 are small, home-based businesses, do not file business license renewal forms, and staff must quickly bring these non-filers into compliance. While legally obligated to file, these businesses owe no taxes yet require much staff assistance to gain compliance. Past efforts to contact this group resulted in an average live response rate of 15%. With limited resources, the Business Section created a program to streamline the business tax non-filer resolution process. The new program utilized existing resources and included an automated outbound messaging system to reach small, home-based businesses. The process was added to an existing contract for printing and mailing tax returns and reminders for non-filers. Messages were personalized for each business and were scheduled at specific times to allow for maximum response. The messages were also staggered over a three-day period to improve customer service. A call status report was used to ensure completion of the process. The program results were an increased live response rate of nearly 300%. This increase enabled staff to dedicate more time to resolving non-filers owing taxes. As a result, revenues from non-filer activities increased by over $100,000 from the previous process. The new program saved staff over 200 hours and reduced operating costs by over $4,000. Printing and mailing costs were also reduced by over $1,000, which covered the new project cost of $760. Due to the number of positive results, the methods behind the Business Tax Non-Filer Resolution Process have been utilized with other non-filer notification projects within the division.