Uncle Sam believes the gap between what taxpayers owe and what they actually pay is anywhere between $312 and $345 billion dollars. For years, agencies have suspected that citizens were making large purchases out of state to avoid paying taxes but could never "prove it." Now, state governments are turning to high-tech tools to catch residents who avoid paying state taxes and begin collecting on monies due.

As the state slogan says "Don't Mess with Texas." The state of Texas Comptroller's office was one of the first tax divisions to use Teradata technology. Since the program was implemented in 1998, Texas has collected more than $600 million in additional taxes - roughly more than $1 million per week. Plus, after installing data programs that cross-referenced federal airplane registrations with state tax records, Texas raked in $5 million from 43 residents in a mere six months.

Iowa, Arizona, Missouri, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. are also using Teradata technology to collect tax revenue and crack down on compliance issues. Since the program launched in Iowa six years ago, additional revenue averages around $1.2 million per month.