SENATE, No. 441

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED JANUARY 18, 1996

By Senator KENNY

An Act requiring the Director of the Division of Taxation to establish a statewide program allowing taxpayers to file gross income tax returns by using the telephone, supplementing Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. a. The Director of the Division of Taxation shall on or before January 1, 1999, design and implement a statewide program allowing certain taxpayers to file gross income tax returns by using a telephone to transmit tax information to a computer operated by the Division of Taxation. The director shall by January 1, 1996, implement a pilot program in a minimum of three counties within the State to ensure the program's viability.

    b. The program shall be designed to enable State taxpayers to file gross income tax returns by calling a central computer with a telephone and entering tax information with the telephone's numbered dialing buttons. The computer shall make tax computations during the telephone call and provide the taxpayer with the amount of their total tax and any refund or balance amount due.

    c. Each telephone tax return shall be electromagnetically recorded and maintained by the division.

    d. The director shall establish taxpayer eligibility criteria for program participation. Using those criteria, taxpayers shall be identified for potential program eligibility based on their previous year's income tax return. These taxpayers shall be notified of the new

program and encouraged to participate.

    e. The director shall undertake other efforts deemed necessary to encourage taxpayer participation in the program.

    f. The director shall consider new telephone, voice recognition and computer technologies in designing the program infrastructure.

    g. The director shall ensure the security of the program and protect against fraud by requiring taxpayers to enter a social security number or another identifying security number prior to be allowed to file income taxes with a telephone.

    h. The director shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations necessary to implement this act.

    2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire on January 1, 1999.

STATEMENT

    This bill requires the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury to design and implement a program, before January 1 1999, that will allow certain taxpayers to file gross income tax returns over the telephone. This bill establishes certain criteria and requirements for the telephone income tax return filing program to ensure taxpayer eligibility, usage, security, efficiency, and ease of use.

Requires the establishment a program allowing gross income tax returns to be filed by telephone.