Upgrading tech with a customer focus
Advocacy
Paul Marquart | December/January 2025 Footnote
Editor's note: Updated December 4, 2024
As 2024 draws to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the great work the Department of Revenue and our partners have done for Minnesotans. CPAs play a key role in those efforts, and I enjoyed the chance to thank you in person and share some department updates at the MNCPA’s Tax Conference in November.
Anyone who works with taxes understands the state and federal tax codes are not set in stone — and they change often. Revenue works hard to provide the tools and information taxpayers and representatives need to understand what those changes mean.
This year, Revenue has focused on expanding and improving our online services to help Minnesota filers and tax professionals file returns, pay taxes and receive credits or refunds. For example, we:
- Launched a new digital assistant in e-Services.
- Extended e-Services to some individual filers.
- Added an auto-translation feature to our website.
Online options
The common thread with these updates is how we can improve the technology we use by offering more digital options for our customers, but also making the tech more usable.
e-Services assistant
In October, we launched “Minni,” our e-Services chatbot. Minni is trained to help answer common e-Service questions and a few general tax questions, usually providing a link to the Revenue website for more information.
This chatbot is available 24 hours a day, every day, in e-Services. It does not replace detailed customer service by phone or in person, but it offers another option for customers who cannot or prefer not to call Revenue for general questions. We used information from our website and customer service agents to develop responses for Minni. We will watch how people use Minni and draw on that data and customer feedback to improve the chatbot over time.
e-Services for individuals
In November, we began a pilot program that expands e-Services to include an Individual Income Tax account. For now, we’re inviting a limited group of individual taxpayers to enroll in e-Services to make payments and view account balances and payment history.
We expect to invite more individuals to open an e-Services account next year. We’ll add more features gradually over the next few years. (Note: Third-party access is not yet available for individual accounts.)
We hope you’ll encourage your clients to enroll in e-Services as it becomes available to them, and we add more self-service features. Meanwhile, please let us know if you have, or receive, any questions. You can email us at
individual.incometax@state.mn.us or call 651-296-3781.
Website translation
In October, we added an automatic translation tool to the Revenue website that lets visitors read our content in Spanish, Hmong or Somali. This tool is powered by Google Translate and used by some other agencies in Minnesota and other states.
While not every translation will be perfect, this tool will help customers who use languages other than English find information on our website. To use the tool, visitors first need to accept a disclaimer message that explains Revenue does not control the translations and that the English version is considered the most accurate. Once activated, the tool translates every webpage as it loads in a browser. It does not translate documents or forms.
Auto-translation technology — among others — is evolving fast, and we plan to consider more comprehensive tools in the future. This first step will help us gather feedback and understand what our customers need as we move forward.
Looking ahead
The 2025 legislative session begins Jan. 14. Gov. Walz and the Legislature will negotiate a state budget for fiscal years 2025-26, among other business. As always, Revenue looks forward to supporting the governor and legislators in their work during the session, which ends May 19.
We’ll notify you about any tax law changes through our website and other channels and provide further guidance as needed. For the latest information:
Please let us know how we can support you during the filing season or if you have ideas to improve our state tax system. Until then, I wish you a joyous holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Paul Marquart is commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Revenue.
