Such changes will demand new ways of conducting the department's business. Today's entrepreneurs are rapidly changing the business environment. Trends indicate an informal management and working style, extensive use of technology, and an emphasis on the importance of employees and customers over bureaucracy and the bottom-line. New services responsive to this customer segment, however cannot adversely impact the quality of services targeted to others or undermine the department's ability to protect the tax base. Access to, and the effective and appropriate use of, more data is a key to improving compliance in less intrusive ways.
Technology offers opportunities to use new information in improved programs.
At the same time, the privacy rights of individuals and businesses must be protected. Cooperative efforts with others to determine our future data collection, retention, usage, and sharing policies must be engaged. Public policy experts believe, that in a world of virtual organizations conducting business via electronic commerce, tracking and collecting tax dollars will become increasingly difficult and cause the current income tax system to change dramatically. It is likely the department will continue to be asked to build on its core competencies in processing, audit, collection, data management functions, and innovative partnerships, to implement new programs timely and efficiently. Implementing new programs, however, cannot adversely impact the department's ability to fulfill its primary mission of tax administration.