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Tax Collections Optimization for New York State

Author

Listed:
  • Gerard Miller

    (Department of Taxation and Finance, State of New York, Albany, New York 12227)

  • Melissa Weatherwax

    (Department of Taxation and Finance, State of New York, Albany, New York 12227)

  • Timothy Gardinier

    (Department of Taxation and Finance, State of New York, Albany, New York 12227)

  • Naoki Abe

    (IBM Research, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598)

  • Prem Melville

    (IBM Research, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598)

  • Cezar Pendus

    (IBM Research, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598)

  • David Jensen

    (IBM Research, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598)

  • Chandan K. Reddy

    (Department of Computer Science, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202)

  • Vince Thomas

    (Global Business Services, IBM Corporation, Armonk, New York 10504)

  • James Bennett

    (Global Business Services, IBM Corporation, Armonk, New York 10504)

  • Gary Anderson

    (Global Business Services, IBM Corporation, Armonk, New York 10504)

  • Brent Cooley

    (Global Business Services, IBM Corporation, Armonk, New York 10504)

Abstract

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (NYS DTF) collects over $1 billion annually in assessed delinquent taxes. The mission of DTF's Collections and Civil Enforcement Division (CCED) is to increase collections, but to do so in a manner that respects the rights of citizens, by taking actions commensurate with each debtor's situation. CCED must accomplish this in an environment with limited resources. In a collaborative work, NYS DTF, IBM Research, and IBM Global Business Services developed a novel tax collection optimization solution to address this challenge. The operations research-based solution combines data analytics and optimization using the unifying framework of constrained Markov decision processes (C-MDP). The system optimizes the collection actions of agents with respect to maximizing long-term returns, while taking into account the complex dependencies among business needs, resources, and legal constraints. It generates a customized collections policy instead of broad-brush rules, thereby improving both the efficiency and adaptiveness of the collections process. It also enhances and improves the tax agency's ability to administer taxes equitably across the broad scope of individual taxpayers' situations. The system became operational in December 2009; from 2009 to 2010, New York State increased its collections from delinquent revenue by $83 million (8 percent) using the same set of resources. Given a typical annual increase of 2 to 4 percent, the system's expected benefit is approximately $120 to $150 million over a period of three years, far exceeding the initial target of $90 million.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerard Miller & Melissa Weatherwax & Timothy Gardinier & Naoki Abe & Prem Melville & Cezar Pendus & David Jensen & Chandan K. Reddy & Vince Thomas & James Bennett & Gary Anderson & Brent Cooley, 2012. "Tax Collections Optimization for New York State," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 42(1), pages 74-84, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:42:y:2012:i:1:p:74-84
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.1110.0618
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. William M. Makuch & Jeffrey L. Dodge & Joseph G. Ecker & Donna C. Granfors & Gerald J. Hahn, 1992. "Managing Consumer Credit Delinquency in the US Economy: A Multi-Billion Dollar Management Science Application," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 90-109, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Elitzur, Ramy, 2020. "Data analytics effects in major league baseball," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. Javiera Barrera & Eduardo Moreno & Sebastián Varas K., 2020. "A decomposition algorithm for computing income taxes with pass-through entities and its application to the Chilean case," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 286(1), pages 545-557, March.
    3. Lukasz A. Drozd & Ricardo Serrano-Padial, 2017. "Modeling the Revolving Revolution: The Debt Collection Channel," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(3), pages 897-930, March.
    4. Shoghi , Amirhossein, 2019. "Debt Collection Industry: Machine Learning Approach," Journal of Money and Economy, Monetary and Banking Research Institute, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, vol. 14(4), pages 453-473, October.
    5. Johannes Kriebel & Kevin Yam, 2020. "Forecasting recoveries in debt collection: Debt collectors and information production," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 26(3), pages 537-559, June.

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