Accenture to upgrade Maryland's tax collection system

Accenture Ltd. has won an $87 million competitive procurement contract to upgrade Maryland’s statewide tax-collection system.

Under the terms of the award from the Maryland Board of Public Works, the contractor will install its Accenture Enterprise Revenue Solution, which includes enhanced tax administration processing, receivables management, analytics and data warehouse capabilities. The product uses commercially available software from SAP and Teradata Corp.

The new system is expected to significantly increase the state’s collection of tax revenues through enhanced discovery, audit and compliance programs, and improved billing, Accenture officials said. The system will also streamline processing to improve taxpayers’ services, provide more efficient refund processing and make more taxpayer self-service functions available on the Internet, they added.

“This program for a new tax system is designed to create a positive return for the state within three years,” said David Moskovitz, managing director of Accenture’s U.S. state and local practice, in a statement released today.

Accenture’s team includes SAP; Teradata, a data warehouse provider in Miamisburg, Ohio; and four Maryland-based minority businesses.

Accenture, of Hamilton, Bermuda, ranks No. 23 on Washington Technology’s 2008 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.