The Georgia Department of Revenue’s Fraud Management Solution (FMS) was recently named a finalist for the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) award for Improving State Operations. The FMS system was implemented by the Department’s Office of Special Investigations prior to the 2016 Tax Season and provides DOR agents with instant access to a taxpayer’s total tax picture, allowing agents to more effectively identify fraud. It has greatly increased tax and identity theft detection, and blocked over $98 million in fraudulent refunds from being released in 2016.

“The FMS system has greatly increased both the Department’s efficiency and ability to protect against and prevent tax fraud in the state,” said Josh Waites, Director of the DOR’s Office of Special Investigations. “In 2016 DOR blocked $98.3 million in fraudulent refunds from being released to criminals and we are on pace to block over $100 million in 2017.”

The other Georgia finalists are Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) with their Child Support Services Mobile App and the Georgia Department of Transportation’s WebEOC application.

The eventual award recipients in each category will be named October 2 at NASCIO’s annual conference.

For its 2017 awards, NASCIO solicited nominations in 11 categories and sought “transformational projects and initiatives that address critical business problems, improve business processes, or increase citizen engagement in state government.” In response, NASCIO received more than 100 nominations.

“For several years, I’ve been saying that Georgia state agencies are leading the nation in their innovative use of technology. Having three projects named as finalists in this year’s NASCIO awards proves those aren’t idle statements,” said Calvin Rhodes, Georgia State CIO and GTA Executive Director. “This is an impressive showing, and there’s no doubt that other states are paying attention to what we’re doing here in Georgia.”