Subdivision 1.Powers and duties.

The commissioner shall have and exercise the following powers and duties:

(1) administer and enforce the assessment and collection of taxes;

(2) make determinations, corrections, and assessments with respect to taxes, including interest, additions to taxes, and assessable penalties;

(3) use statistical or other sampling techniques consistent with generally accepted auditing standards in examining returns or records and making assessments;

(4) investigate the tax laws of other states and countries, and formulate and submit to the legislature such legislation as the commissioner may deem expedient to prevent evasions of state revenue laws and to secure just and equal taxation and improvement in the system of state revenue laws;

(5) consult and confer with the governor upon the subject of taxation, the administration of the laws in regard thereto, and the progress of the work of the department, and furnish the governor, from time to time, such assistance and information as the governor may require relating to tax matters;

(6) execute and administer any agreement with the secretary of the treasury or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the Department of Justice of the United States or a representative of another state regarding the exchange of information and administration of the state revenue laws;

(7) require town, city, county, and other public officers to report information as to the collection of taxes received from licenses and other sources, and such other information as may be needful in the work of the commissioner, in such form as the commissioner may prescribe;

(8) authorize the use of unmarked motor vehicles to conduct seizures or criminal investigations pursuant to the commissioner’s authority;

(9) authorize the participation in audits performed by the Multistate Tax Commission. For the purposes of chapter 270B, the Multistate Tax Commission will be considered to be a state for the purposes of auditing corporate sales, excise, and income tax returns;

(10) maintain toll-free telephone access for taxpayer assistance for calls from locations within the state; and

(11) exercise other powers and authority and perform other duties required of or imposed upon the commissioner by law.

Subd. 2.Mission; efficiency.

It is part of the department’s mission that within the department’s resources the commissioner shall endeavor to:

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(1) prevent the waste or unnecessary spending of public money;

(2) use innovative fiscal and human resource practices to manage the state’s resources and operate the department as efficiently as possible;

(3) coordinate the department’s activities wherever appropriate with the activities of other governmental agencies;

(4) use technology where appropriate to increase agency productivity, improve customer service, increase public access to information about government, and increase public participation in the business of government;

(5) utilize constructive and cooperative labor-management practices to the extent otherwise required by chapters 43A and 179A;

(6) report to the legislature on the performance of agency operations and the accomplishment of agency goals in the agency’s biennial budget according to section 16A.10, subdivision 1; and

(7) recommend to the legislature appropriate changes in law necessary to carry out the mission and improve the performance of the department.