FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: Rick Clayburgh, Tax Commissioner 701-328-2770
May 12, 2003

Tax Department Earns E-Filing Awards

BISMARCK --- Tax Commissioner Rick Clayburgh announced that the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner was recently awarded top honors in two categories for e-filing.

The awards were presented by the National Association of Computerized Tax Processors (NACTP) at the Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) Electronic Filing Symposium on May 4-7. The NACTP consists of software and hardware developers, electronic filing processors, tax form publishers, and tax processing service bureaus. The association promotes standards in tax processing and works closely with the IRS and forty-three states to promote efficient and effective tax filing.

"This is a great honor for North Dakota," said Commissioner Clayburgh, "to be awarded first place, especially considering that most of the states are considerably larger in volume of tax returns and available resources."

Each member of NACTP reviews and grades each state in five categories: Communications, Record Layouts, E-file Acknowledgements, Testing and On-line E-file. Those grades are then tallied and awards are presented to the states that ranked the highest.

Clayburgh said, "This is the third year these awards have been presented and the first year in which North Dakota has won top honors in two categories."

The Tax Department received a first place award for E-File Acknowledgements. One of the advantages of e-filing is that the IRS and the state send the taxpayer an acknowledgement of receipt of the tax return. This is something paper filers do not receive. The acknowledgement lets the taxpayer know that the return has been received and processed. North Dakota is able to send the acknowledgement to the taxpayer within 24 hours of receiving the electronic return.

The other award was first place for On-line E-file. This award recognizes states that provide taxpayers with free e-file information and links through the Internet. Last year the IRS partnered with Free File Alliance, a consortium of tax software companies, to help taxpayers prepare and electronically file their federal tax returns for free. Some of the companies listed with the Free File Alliance offer free or discount the fee charged to e-file the state income tax return.

The North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner's web site has a webpage dedicated specifically for the Free File project. The different companies that participate in the Free File Alliance are listed on that page along with a brief description of the eligibility requirements for each company.

"E-file is an indispensable part of our efforts in recent years to create a more efficient and effective department that is better able to serve our customers," said Clayburgh. "These awards reflect the dedication of our employees who are committed to creating efficiencies and improving services for North Dakota's taxpayers."

To find out more about the Free File Alliance, or to find out more about e-filing visit the tax department's web site at www.nd.gov/tax.