The main support mechanism is the gateway-discussmailing list. E-mail sent to the list is forwarded to all
developers and any users that have decided to join. It is publicly accessible and will be archived
forever, so think before you hit the 'Send' button. If you'd like to discuss something
privately, please contact one of the developers.
No. The Gateway currently only supports Streamlined Sales Tax. Though development is underway for
the new Modernized eFile (MeF) program, the software won't enable an individual to submit tax returns.
With MeF, your return isn't sent directly to the IRS or the state by your software. Instead, it is sent
to a tax software provider, usually the company that produced the software you used. The software
provider will then securely forward your data to the IRS. The IRS will process the data and make it
available for states to pick up. This is where the Gateway comes in. The Gateway's MeF implementation
will use web services to pull the returns from the IRS.
Cost - It takes very little effort and doesn't cost the state anything
to publish the source code, we use a free service called
Source Forge. If we receive source code contributions
from outside developers it will actually result in a savings because the contributed
code is code that Vermont didn't have to pay developers to write.
To be a good Neighbor - Many states are implementing Streamlined Sales Tax
and other XML-based electronic return systems. Sharing the code with fellow states
would be a nice thing to do because it helps them accomplish their goals while reducing
their costs. Additionally, other Vermont agencies and departments could adapt and enhance
the code to meet their needs.
Education - Vermonters who are studying Java software development could learn
by studying our code. Our code has a lot of interesting pieces in it that aren't directly
related to taxes (our event logging system, authentication system, unit test setup, etc).
Developers of open source software could legally copy and use the code in their projects.
Better Software - With more people using our code and more developers looking at our
code, bugs would be more easily spotted and fixed. Sharing the code with the transmitters
who send us data allows them to test changes to their software and debug problems more
easily. They could examine exactly what our code does with their input and setup their own
private testing environment.
There are a few JBoss specific parts (some config files and pieces of the authentication system), so
we'd expect it to fail spectacularly if run under a different application server. However, we'd be
happy to accept patches to make it run under other open source application servers like Apache
Geronimo, JOnAS, or glassfish. In the coming months we will begin porting the gateway to Oracle's
Application Server. Hopefully that process will eliminate or replace the JBoss specific pieces.
There are a few MySQL/HSQLDB specific parts (some config files and maybe 1 or 2 test cases), so we'd
expect it to fail spectacularly if run under on different databases. However, we'd be happy to accept
patches to make it run on other open source databases like PostgreSQL, Apache Derby, or Firebird.
