Connecticut Department of Revenue Services Targets 14,000 Hispanic Business Owners With Spanish Language Tax Video
The State of Connecticut Department of Revenue Services has created a video in Spanish to teach its Spanish speaking residents how to properly handle their taxes.
"We are a service agency and our main goal must be to serve the taxpayers of Connecticut, not just collect their taxex," DRS Commissioner Kevin B. Sullivan, who announced the video, explained in a statement by the department.
Fifteen percent of Connecticut's population reportedly speak Spanish.
A task force created by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy thought of the idea for the video, The Associated Press reports.
"This year, I established a Task Force to evaluate the state's existing communications policies so that we are more effective at reaching people in every single one of our communities," he said in the statement. "Spanish-speakers are an important part of our state's growing economy and I am delighted that the Revenue Services Department is leading the way in the translation of critical information that will help business owners."
In addition, there are almost 14,000 businesses owned by Hispanic residents in the state of Connecticut.
"Small business owners are just like every other business taxpayer in Connecticut," Sullivan said. "They cannot comply with state tax laws if they don't understand what is expected of them. We must be proactive in reaching out to taxpayers in a language they can understand."
Sullivan became commissioner in 2011, AP reported. Since then, he has put a Google language translator on the department's website and "started the process of identifying letters to translate into Spanish," according to the statement.
"This additional step is to make the website more welcoming," Sullivan said, according to AP. "It's a no-brainer."
Mark Zampino, a spokesman for the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accounts, praised the video.
"We're always looking for CPAs who speak Spanish, Polish and Russian," he said.
Check out the video here.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.
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