Bill Seeks High-Tech Policing For Minnesota Tax Cheats

ST. PAUL (AP) — Republicans who lead the Minnesota House insist they won't raise taxes to fix the state budget. But they're looking for ways to more aggressively enforce the current tax code to bring in more money.

Legislation introduced last week, with House Speaker Kurt Zellers as a cosponsor, would require the Department of Revenue to use more high-tech tools to seek out tax cheats.

In the past, lawmakers have turned to tax compliance measures to generate more money in tight budget times.

The bill would use require the agency to contract for "tax analytics and business intelligence," which helps officials identify prime targets for audits and collection efforts. The technology looks for patterns, predictive modeling and other methods to flag suspect accounts.

No hearing has been set yet.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.