RAYMOND, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fast Enterprises (FAST) today announced that the State of Mississippi has selected the company and its GenTax® commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software product as the Mississippi Department of Revenue’s solution for a modernized and completely integrated tax and revenue system.
FAST, a leading provider of software and information technology consulting services for government tax, revenue, and unemployment insurance agencies, was awarded the five-year contract in late November. The project, known as the Mississippi Automated Revenue System, or MARS, involves software installation, data conversion services, technical support, agency-specific system configuration, user testing, functional and technical training, and post-implementation support services.
“We are very excited that the Department of Revenue has chosen us as their business partner on this important project to implement a state-of-the-art tax and revenue system for the people of Mississippi,” said Martin Rankin, the managing partner of FAST. “We welcome Mississippi into the community of local, state, and national governments that are currently using GenTax® to administer their tax and revenue programs,” he said. “The level of commitment and professionalism that we’ve seen from the Department of Revenue makes us confident that this will be yet another highly successful GenTax® project.”
The Mississippi Department of Revenue, which collects more than $6.5 billion annually for the support of state and local government services, has described its existing systems as being inefficient and ineffective for the administration of a modern tax agency. Most of these existing systems, designed and initially implemented in the 1970s, do not have taxes integrated into a single, unified system and can be difficult to manage and maintain due to their age, file structure, and interfacing limitations.
The GenTax®-based MARS project will replace Mississippi’s current legacy applications with a comprehensive and fully integrated solution to manage over 40 tax and license programs for business and individual taxpayers. In addition to supporting the full suite of tax and revenue business functions for the agency, the solution will provide taxpayers with internet services; it will include the GenTax® Data Warehouse for loading, mining, and managing data from multiple external sources; and it will utilize the GenTax® Discovery module for audit selection, fraud detection, and tracking suspected noncompliance cases.
“We have needed to update our technology for some time,” said Ed Morgan, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Revenue, “and we are grateful that our state’s leaders have recognized this need and have provided funding for us to improve our computing technology. We are getting an integrated tax management system in place that enhances customer service, increases the security and accuracy of taxpayer data, and significantly improves our business processes and operational efficiencies,” he said. “We’re very excited to finally be involved in making this project a reality and we’re looking forward to all the benefits the new system will provide to the people and government of Mississippi.”
Mississippi is one of 17 U.S. states to choose the GenTax® COTS software. FAST project team members began work on the MARS project the day after contract execution and the balance of the core project team will be on site in early February. The team will work collaboratively with more than 30 Department of Revenue employees to implement five annual rollouts deploying broad-based taxes such as corporate and individual income tax, withholding tax, and sales tax, in addition to an Alcoholic Beverage Control warehouse system and more specialized taxes and licensing fees in areas such as severance taxes, waste fees, and beer and tobacco permit fees.
About the Mississippi Department of Revenue
The Mississippi Department of Revenue is the agency responsible for the administration of the state’s tax laws. The Department of Revenue administers over 50 different tax types that affect business and individual taxpayers and collects in excess of $6 billion annually for the support of state and local government services.
About Fast Enterprises
Since 1998, FAST has been working with city, county, state, provincial, and national governments to implement integrated solutions used to administer a wide variety of tax, revenue, and unemployment insurance programs. FAST has over 300 professionals engaged in on-site system implementation and follow-on support engagements for 20 U.S. states and local governments, three Canadian provinces, and a Caribbean republic. In addition, FAST has product support staff and administrative staff working out of the company’s Denver, Colorado headquarters and two additional North American offices.
The company’s primary product, GenTax®, is a commercial off-the-shelf integrated tax processing system. Almost every aspect of GenTax® can be flexibly configured to provide agencies with the options, settings, and functions necessary for effective and efficient administration of tax, revenue, and unemployment insurance programs.
For additional information or to schedule an interview with a Fast Enterprises partner or company representative, contact Beth Schattin by phone at (208) 433-9244 or by e-mail at bschattin@gentax.com.