The future of Tax Returns

Published: 25 March 2019

Which? Reports “Tax chatbots and blockchain: is this the future of tax returns?” “Research conducted by HMRC in 2017 found that the 16-24 age group were most likely to contact HMRC via off-line means, despite being one of the most digitally-savvy demographics – suggesting the digital service offered by HMRC wasn’t hitting the mark with younger people.

While HMRC has already launched a pilot chatbot – Ask Ruth, a cartoon who inf that she can only answer simple questions and provide website links – developments in the private sector could pave the way for this kind of service to be vastly improved. For instance, one company is working on a tax bot that can find answers to complex questions by speedily searching through entire volumes of tax law.

Elsewhere, systems are being developed to quickly calculate complex tax figures – such as one’s eligibility for capital allowances – at the click of a button. Ordinarily, this kind of calculation could take hours to figure out.”