30 Annual Report 2014-15
7 Information Technology
The Department has been making extensive use of information technology to enhance operational efficiency and provide a wide range of electronic services to the public.
IT Environment
The Department has a comprehensive and integrated IT infrastructure, including different types of computer application systems and platforms. The Department’s network connects the computer system and staff workstations on different floors. Assessment process is automated by the “Assess-First-Audit-Later” system. Tax audit and investigation work is facilitated by the use of data mining and advanced analytical tools. With extensive utilization of the Document Management System and Workflow Management System, the management, control and monitoring of documents, files and workflows are strengthened. Apart from adopting computerised workflow to enhance efficiency, a wide range of information is stored in the Department’s Intranet and General Enquiry Knowledge Database for convenient access by our staff at work. Moreover, e-mail and Internet facilities provide an efficient and environment-friendly communication platform for our staff.
In 2014-15, we continued to develop the system infrastructure enhancement project. Stage I and II of the project have already been completed. Regarding Stage III of the project for migration of mainframe applications, system development and user acceptance testing are in progress.
Electronic Services
eTAX
eTAX provides a wide range of online tax services to the public. It includes internet filing of tax returns, stamping of property documents, business registration enquiries, electronic notices, payments and lodgement of applications, etc.
The Department’s online services are widely used. As at 31 March 2015, there were some 598,000 registered eTAX users. The take-up rate increased year after year (Figure 35).
31
Annual Report 2014-15
Figure 35 eTAX Usage Statistics
2013-14 Number
2014-15 Number
Increase/
Decrease
Internet filing of tax returns
- Tax Return-Individuals, Property Tax Return and Profits Tax Return 423,555 472,350 +11.5%
- Employer’s Return of Remuneration and Pensions
BIR56A 7,468 10,292 +37.8%
IR56B 57,174 78,009 +36.4%
- Employer’s Notifications of Commencement of Employment, Cessation of Employment and Employee’s Departure from Hong Kong
14,890 15,468 +3.9%
Stamping of Property Document 223,656 290,104 +29.7%
Business Registration Number Enquiry 2,710,228 2,148,597 -20.7%
Application for Supply of Information on the Business Register
Requisition 124,242 130,075 +4.7%
Business registrations involved 292,532 317,072 +8.4%
Other Electronic Services
During 2014-15, some 44,700 employers furnished annual returns for 2,788,500 employees by diskettes, CD- ROMs or USB storage devices. About 70% of these employers used the free software provided by the Department.
