AI adoption is accelerating, but tax firms risk falling behind. Without clear success metrics, talent will leave, and competitive advantage will be lost. A new Tolley survey of UK tax practitioners reveals...
Launch event for the consolidated tax laws at RELX Headquarters in London with Ian Glencross, Mai Trinh, Marcia Balisciano, Paul Walker, Ambassador Lalisa Birhanu, Dominic Mathon, Nick Luff, Lisa Mackie...
The tax profession is in the midst of an AI revolution. Generative AI tools are rapidly transforming how tax practitioners research issues, draft documents, and serve clients. While the potential benefits...
Practitioners across the UK are eagerly embracing generative AI to streamline their workflows and enhance productivity. According to a recent survey by Tolley, 35% of tax professionals are already using...
The rise of generative AI is rapidly transforming the tax profession. A recent survey by Tolley found that over a third of UK tax practitioners are already using these powerful AI tools, with many more...
The tax profession is in the midst of an AI revolution. Generative AI tools are rapidly transforming how tax practitioners research issues, draft documents, and serve clients. While the potential benefits are immense, there are also risks around accuracy, bias, and data security that must be carefully navigated. To fully capitalise on this seismic shift, tax professionals need to stay ahead of the curve on AI developments and best practices.
Tax practitioners have been quick to recognise AI's game-changing potential. A recent Tolley survey found that over a third (35%) of UK tax professionals use generative AI at least monthly, with 9% using it daily. Another 32% plan to start using it soon.
The driving forces are clear - AI allows practitioners to work exponentially faster on key tasks like tax research (91% plan to use AI for this) and document drafting (87%). As Hayley McKelvey of Deloitte notes, “We are only at the foothills of what GenAI can do and how much of the tax professional's compliance and advisory work it can consume.”
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However, 77% of survey respondents voiced concerns around the reliability and security risks of public access generative AI tools. The data these models are trained on may be biased, incomplete, or simply inaccurate for specialised tax contexts.
“The quality of information isn't currently reliable enough, which can lead to ludicrous or inconsistent results if you don't already know what answer you are expecting,” says Jane MacKay of Crowe. There are also risks around confidentiality breaches if sensitive client data is used to train the models.
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To overcome these risks, tax professionals need AI solutions specifically designed for and trained on authoritative tax data sources. Nearly three-quarters (71%) of survey respondents said they would be more confident using generative AI grounded in verified tax content.
As Jonathan Scriven of Tolley explains, “Accuracy of information is critical to tax professionals. There's a huge fear of providing the wrong advice to clients, which is particularly heightened by issues with public access generative AI.”
Tolley is taking a responsible, principled approach to developing AI solutions securely built on RELX's trusted tax intelligence. “We proactively look to prevent the creation or reinforcement of bias by ensuring we can always explain how and why our systems work,” says Scriven.
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As AI handles more routine tasks, the skills required of tax advisors will evolve. Practitioners will need stronger data analysis abilities to properly evaluate AI outputs and spot potential errors.
“Tax professionals will need to be far more fluent in data and data interrogation techniques than they are today, even in a world where AI and GenAI is doing most of the heavy lifting,” says McKelvey.
They'll also need to become experts at prompting AI systems, framing queries precisely to generate reliable results. As MacKay notes, “Whatever the quality of the information, if you ask the wrong question, you'll get the wrong answer.”
The efficiency gains of AI raise questions around pricing models. 45% of in-house tax teams expect their bills to be reduced, while only 35% of firms anticipate this client expectation.
There's likely no one-size-fits-all solution, as Scriven explains: “The impact of this on price will depend on many different factors – the importance and number of those tasks in the overall workflow, the pricing mechanism at play, the commercial relationship between the client and their adviser, and the overall level of competition in that segment of the market.”
Firms will need to carefully evaluate their AI investments, cost savings, and client needs to determine appropriate pricing adjustments.
There's no denying that generative AI will profoundly disrupt tax practice. Those who move swiftly to implement trustworthy, secure AI solutions will be positioned for success. But all tax professionals must stay educated on the latest AI capabilities, risks, and best practices.
By mastering AI skills, rethinking all existing processes, and partnering with AI providers focused on tax-specific models and data, practitioners can fully capitalise on AI's potential to streamline workflows and deliver more value to clients.
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