New State Tax Chief Looks to Future

New State Tax Chief Looks to Future

NEW YORK—The new head of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance outlined in December the three major goals his department will undertake in the coming year.

Commissioner Andrew Eristoff said the department planned to improve processing, increase voluntary compliance and continue to upgrade customer service, a project that had been a focus of his popular predecessor, Arthur Roth.

“I’m looking forward to the continuation of a wonderful partnership (with practitioners),” Eristoff said during the New York State Society of CPAs’ State Taxation Conference on Dec. 17.

Eristoff, an attorney with substantial government experience, replaced Roth last September after serving for a year as deputy executive commissioner at the department. Eristoff was New York City Department of Finance Commissioner from 1999 to 2002, and a member of the city council from 1993 to 1999.

Three-Part Plan

Addressing the first piece of the plan, Eristoff said his department would be replacing “legacy systems” for processing data with a new computing system, to be put in place over the next three years. Eristoff said the system should reduce delay in processing returns, limit issuance of erroneous tax bills and help the state target audits better.

The department is also in discussion with a vendor regarding a pilot e-file program, as e-filing becomes a requirement for some returns, which should ease the payment process for taxpayers. The requirement has a practical benefit, Eristoff said, in that the department is now engulfed in analysis of how e-filing might impact the state tax code.

Eristoff quipped that the department’s second goal—to increase voluntary compliance—will “keep (CPAs) busy in the months to come.” The department will seriously focus on abuse, especially in accounting for business combinations. Eristoff said other initiatives include constructing a database of common fraud schemes, and sharing information the department culls from state cases with other states and the federal government.

Finally, Eristoff said that he would continue to adopt Roth’s motto for his customer service improvement initiatives—“better, faster, smarter, cheaper”—by adding new features and services, such as a place on the department’s website where practitioners and other members of the public can comment on proposed regulatory changes during a comment period.

“You are critical in the process,” Eristoff told attendees of the conference. “The department is relying on your advice.”