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 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...
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 tax profession is rapidly adopting generative AI to increase efficiency and unlock new insights. A recent Tolley survey found 9% of UK tax practitioners use AI daily, while over a third use it at least monthly. However, enthusiasm is tempered by concerns around reliability, security, and ethical implications when using public AI tools not grounded in authoritative tax data. This blog explores the key priorities and risks tax professionals face with AI adoption and how trustworthy, citable AI tools can help.
Research and drafting top priorities
Tax professionals' top priorities for using AI are researching tax matters (91%) and drafting documents (87%). Generative AI excels at quickly analysing complex information, spotting patterns, and generating human-like outputs – invaluable for tax research, reporting, and client communications.
“Generative AI can help tax professionals understand, break down and evaluate analysis so they better address client circumstances,” says Becky Shields, Partner and Head of Transformation at Moore Kingston Smith.
Smaller firms like Larkstoke Advisors see AI's potential to “drive productivity by enabling tax professionals to focus on the technical and value-adding aspects of their roles,” says Founding Partner Michael Beart.
Larger firms such as Evelyn Partners are using AI for mapping trial balances, creating claim narratives from transcripts, and interpreting foreign documents.
Learn more about Tolley's AI solutions for tax
Reliability and security concerns
While eager to adopt AI, 77% of tax practitioners voice concerns over the reliability and security of publicly accessible generative AI tools. Lack of transparency around training data and potential for inaccurate or biased outputs are key worries.
“The big risk is the professional services market diverges from the knowledge and abilities practitioners can offer,” says Helen Whiteman, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.
Overreliance without human review also risks providing incorrect advice leading to potential liability.
The need for trustworthy, citable AI
To confidently adopt AI, tax professionals need tools grounded in authoritative tax data with transparent reasoning and human oversight.
71% would be more confident using generative AI linked to verifiable tax sources. Four-fifths of in-house teams expect to be informed if external advisors use AI.
“Training advisers to ask the right questions and ensuring review procedures are critical for omitting hallucinations from generative AI,” advises Shields.
Tolley is developing responsible, explainable AI solutions built on established RELX principles, proactively preventing bias and championing privacy.
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As generative AI's capabilities rapidly evolve, the tax profession stands to benefit immensely through increased productivity, better client service, and valuable new insights. However, adopting AI built on public data alone raises significant risks around accuracy, bias, and liability. By prioritising trustworthy AI tools grounded in authoritative tax data and transparent reasoning, tax professionals can confidently navigate the future of AI-augmented tax services.