This act requires the Department of Revenue to develop and implement a method to make all documents and forms relating to the motor fuel tax, state income tax, sales and use tax, cigarette tax, lead-acid battery fee, and new tire fee available online and capable of electronic submission. The deadline for the department to meet this requirement is January 1, 2019.

The act also allows the Department to use electronic means to satisfy all statutory notification requirements regarding the collection of taxes and fees, if the taxpayer agrees to electronic notification, including notifications regarding income taxes and sales taxes that would otherwise be required to be sent by certified or registered mail.

The act also allows the Department of Revenue to send notices by electronic mail instead of regular mail for many statutory notice requirements, including those relating to motor vehicle licensing and registration and several other chapters, including among others those regarding child support enforcement, juvenile courts, and concealed carry endorsements, if the recipient has consented to notification through electronic mail.

The act requires licensed distributors of motor fuel who import gas from other states to pay the motor fuel tax electronically and file the monthly suppliers report electronically. If the licensed distributor does not submit either the tax or the report electronically, the amount of tax due will be paid based on one hundred percent, rather than ninety-seven percent or ninety-eight percent.

The director of the Department of Revenue is authorized to require that the forms and information necessary to collect the motor fuel tax be submitted electronically, after notifying all affected entities in writing at least six months before the effective date of the requirement. Any person who does not file electronically will have two percent added to the amount of the tax, unless the person establishes that the failure to file electronically was due to reasonable cause.

For all tax years after January 1, 2012, tax preparers who filed more than ten income tax returns in the previous year will be required to file tax returns electronically or in a paper format that includes a barcode. A tax preparer who files a individual income tax return in another manner will be subject to a penalty of fifty dollars per return, unless the preparer establishes that the failure to file electronically was due to reasonable cause. Tax preparers who file more than ten corporate income and franchise tax returns will also be required to file electronically or face a fifty dollar penalty per return.

Employers are required to submit employer withholding tax returns electronically and, if the amount of taxes withheld by the employer was four thousand dollars or more in each of at least six months of the prior calendar year, then the employer is required to use an electronic funds payment system. If the employer fails to file electronically, the employer faces a penalty equal to two percent of the tax withheld, unless the employer establishes that the failure to file electronically was due to reasonable cause.

Tax preparers and software companies are prohibited from charging a separate fee for electronically filing certain tax returns. Software companies are also prohibited from offering a version of their software that charges a fee for electronic filing and another version of software that does not charge a fee for electronic filing. Any tax preparer or software company that violates these prohibitions must pay the director of revenue a five hundred dollar penalty for the first violation and a one thousand dollar penalty for each additional violation.

If a person makes taxable sales of at least four thousand dollars in each of at least six months of the prior calendar year, then beginning on January 1, 2014 the person will be required to submit sales tax returns electronically and use electronic funds payment systems to pay the sales tax. This requirement only applies to payments of state sales tax. If the seller fails to file electronically, the employer faces a penalty equal to two percent of the tax, unless the seller establishes that the failure to file electronically was due to reasonable cause.

EMILY KALMER