The New Zealand Inland Revenue Department is set to complete the first stage of a complete overhaul of operations, and it has chosen Accenture as its preferred partner.

Accenture, the international management and consultancy group, is set to re-design the IRD’s digital services, the tax department said in a statement.

The IRD is currently working on changing the way it operates with an overhaul programme that could cost $1.5 billion over ten years. The programme is in four stages, the first of which focuses on upgrading digital services and replacing ageing technology to protect its ability to collect tax.

From there, the programme will focus on streamlining how income and business tax is paid, making the social policy more efficient and delivering a more flexible and well organised revenue collection service.

“Our business transformation programme will reduce compliance, administration time and costs, deliver better services for our customers and make it easier for government to implement policy,” says Greg James, deputy commissioner.

In 2003, Accenture worked with the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to increase efficiency with new initiatives that simplified the tax system and provided electronic service channels.  According to the consultancy's website, every year the ATO saves AUD$150 million.

“Accenture’s experience and knowledge will make an important contribution to the success of the business transformation plan,” James says.

Last year, the IRD entered into an eight year contract with Unisys New Zealand, the global information technology group, for mainframe services. This agreement could see Unisys earn up to $130 million. Negotiations for the Accenture contract are underway.