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Businesses Can Now File up to 10 Years of Overdue Filings Online to Regain Good Standing Status
The Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) has updated its award-winning Maryland Business Express (MBE) site to allow online filing of up to 10 years of overdue Annual Reports and Personal Property Tax Returns. This previously paper-based process enables business owners to more quickly and easily bring their entities into good standing status and maintain or regain the ability to legally conduct business in Maryland.
"Maryland is Open for Business, and SDAT is doing its part by making it easier and faster than ever for busy business owners to get back on a path to success after failing to submit a required filing," said SDAT Director Michael Higgs. "We are continuously working to launch new online services to improve the support and guidance our Department provides to Maryland's hard-working business owners."
Eligible Maryland businesses can now submit overdue annual filings for up to 10 previous years online. This was formerly a service that was only available by mail or in-person during standard operating hours but is now available 24/7 and can even be completed on a mobile device. Once completed, businesses can pay for multiple filings with one online payment and will be notified by the Department if there are any additional steps that need to be taken to regain good standing status. If a customer starts to complete an Annual Report or Personal Property Tax Return, but leaves the filing in incomplete status, they will be emailed a reminder to finish the form before it is deleted.
All business entities formed, qualified, or registered to do business in Maryland must file an Annual Report every year. If a business owns, leases, or uses personal property in Maryland and/or maintains a trader's license with a local unit of government in Maryland, the business must also file a Personal Property Tax Return. If a business does not file the required documents by the annual deadline on April 15, the business falls out of good standing status and may eventually be forfeited. If a business is forfeited, it no longer has the authority to conduct business in Maryland and has no right to its name.
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NIC Maryland Service Desk Earns High Customer Satisfaction Ratings
In addition to the development, hosting and enhancement of digital services provided through Maryland's eGov self-funded Master Contract, NIC Maryland also provides 24x7x365 Tier 1 and Tier 2 support to all Maryland.gov visitors and the 140 products and services delivered through the master contract.
In 2018, the NIC Maryland Service Desk team has achieved an average customer satisfaction rating of 4.5
on a 5-point scale, with 5 indicating highest satisfaction. This satisfaction survey captures feedback from customers who have had an interaction with the NIC Maryland service desk team.
With a state population of 6 million, an average of 526,000+ monthly visits to the Maryland.gov website, and over 85,000 transactions processed daily, the demands on the NIC Maryland customer service team are significant. They provide 24/7/365 assistance and strive to provide each customer with a positive, successful experience. Each month, the team effectively manages over 4,200 email, phone and live chat customer support contacts.
To provide optimal support for Maryland citizens and businesses, new customer support chatbot channels have been added in 2018 to provide enhanced customer support through Maryland.gov and Maryland Business Express. The chatbots are designed to communicate with and deliver customer service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Customers have instant access to thousands of answers related to Maryland government agencies and services, with a constantly expanding knowledge-base to ensure the best possible customer experience. The Business chatbot is available on the Maryland Business Express website and handles 47% of all business-related customer support contacts. The business chatbot assists business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs with business questions related to every phase of the business life cycle including planning, starting, managing and growing a business in Maryland.
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YourPassNow Provides Digital Solutions for Online Ticketing
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The YourPassNow (YPN) service provides Maryland state and local government agencies with an alternative to the traditional paper-based, in-person purchase method while simultaneously providing tourism, parks and recreation staff with a tool to help manage the visitor experience.
Originally developed in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS), YourPassNow makes it easy and convenient for customers to purchase entrance passes to parks as well as offer flexible ticketing options for visitor tours.
YourPassNow is a robust digital marketplace that offers visitors a new level of digital recreation and tourism while
also providing administrators with a tool to help manage the visitor experience.
Launched in early 2016, YourPassNow streamlines a paper-based purchase process that was previously only available at physical locations or approved re-sellers.
More Than Just Convenience
Using a personal device, park entrance passes, land access permits and tours can be conveniently purchased from YPN, a responsively designed, mobile-optimized website. But convenience is just one of many benefits offered by YourPassNow.
Collect Valuable Revenue
For agencies that manage public lands, parks and tourism, YourPassNow serves as a valuable new way to collect the revenue, even from unstaffed locations.
Detect and Prevent Fraud
YourPassNow allows agencies to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse through a built-in pass and permit validation feature that requires no internet connection to use.
Adoption is Growing
Initially launched at three NPS units, adoption of YourPassNow is growing. In addition to the
NPS, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau Land Management,
and the State of Arkansas now use YourPassNow to provide visitors digital access to their lands and tours.
Built to Scale
YourPassNow was designed to easily adapt and scale to meet the unique needs of land management agencies. State and local government agencies interested in offering electronic entrance passes or permits for recreational purposes can quickly and easily transition to the YourPassNow digital platform.
Contact NIC Maryland
for more information.
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CELEBRATING MARYLAND'S AWARD-
WINNING SERVICES
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The 2018 winners of the Center for Digital Government's Government Experience awards were recently announced. These awards recognize the achievements and best practices of states, cities and counties that have gone to the web and beyond to radically improve the experience of government and push the boundaries of how citizen services are delivered.
Department of Information Technology
Maryland.gov
2018 Overall State Government Experience Award, 2nd Place
Department of Information Technology
Enterprise Widget Framework (EWF) API Library
2018 Government Experience Innovation Award
State Department of Assessments and Taxation
Maryland Business Express
2018 Government to Business Project Experience Award
Department of Natural Resources
AccessDNR Mobile App
2018 Government to Citizen Project Experience Award
The WebAward program is the longest running annual website award competition dedicated to naming the best websites in 96 industries while setting the standard of excellence for all website development.
Department of Information Technology
Maryland.gov
2018 Best Government Website Award
State Department of Assessments and Taxation
Maryland Business Express
2018 Government Standard of Excellence Award
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NIC Maryland develops and supports digital government services without using taxpayer funds through a master contract with the State of Maryland. Maryland saves money with NIC's online applications that pay for themselves through a proven funding model.
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Janet Grard
NIC General Manager
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Andrea Greer
DoIT Contract Administrator
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