A test match between USDA data and Comptroller tax data was conducted in April 1996 on certified food retailers in the Houston area. The preliminary match netted a list of active USDA retailers that were shown as out of business in the Comptroller's tax files, as well as some that had no state tax records at all. Such findings may well uncover possible violations of the food stamp regulations and the state tax code. USDA has said this data matching of tax files with the Comptroller's office will be extremely valuable to their enforcement efforts, while serving as a model for other states. Although this is not direct proof of ineligibility, it may signal an inappropriate emphasis on the sale of non-food items.
Additional data benefits EBT system data can provide benefits other than enforcement leads.
EBT data make it easy to detect and eliminate duplicate accounts and redundant information from the DHS database. In addition, this information can be used to quantify the amount of unused benefits remaining in individual beneficiary accounts from one month to the next. The Lone Star card's return mail rate of 3.9 percent since January 1996 greatly exceeds the normal 2.5 percent rate of return for mailed plastic cards, as reported by the U.S. Postal Service, various card vendors, and the American Bankers Association. Local police departments contact DHS' OIG to report the seizure of any Lone Star cards. In some instances, local police departments fail to report the seizure of a Lone Star card.