India Becomes 1st Country Where Artificial Intelligence Will Check Tax Returns; No Humans Will Be Involved In Tax Scrutiny

The tax assessment system of India is getting a makeover, and will now be run by artificial intelligence and machine learning.

This development surely makes things easier, and will help India take one step ahead towards digitisation. It seems like Digital India is no longer a distant dream!

Also, this will make India one of the first countries in the world to employ technology on a bigger scale in public tax assessment. 

The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that India will soon become tech-savvy where income tax assessment is concerned. Also, this will be implemented very soon, from October 2019 itself!

How does the Government plan to employ modern tools such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in tax assessment? We have all the details right below!

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Tax Assessment

Financial Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman has promised that AI and ML will be used in the processes of income tax assessment of the public of India. The system is sure to hit the floors very soon, on October 8, 2019. 

Adopting such advanced technology will guarantee that there will be absolute transparency and ensure preciseness in the whole system of tax assessment. 

A senior official said, “The whole objective of the faceless assessment is based on the premise that tax officers are corrupt and harass taxpayers. This is not only a biased notion but also undermines the genuine work of the tax department.”

A report has recently been submitted to the Finance Minister by the Steering Committee on Fintech-related issues, appointed by the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs. 

How Will AI and ML Bring Transparency in Tax Assessment?

The system is going faceless, therefore, there will be no corrupt officers and everything will be on the record. For instance, if you say that your TDS is deducted of Rs. 10 lakh, but you do not show equivalent income in ITR, the system will start probing into your finances. 

e-Verification will be carried out, wherein you will be sent a set of questions to fill out and send back. If you answer the questions satisfactorily, well and good. If the answers are not satisfactory, the AI will send your case to the officer for investigating it further. This, however, will be done without the AI and ML technology. 

For this, data will be integrated from the MCA, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and GS, which will take about a year. 

We’ll keep you informed as we get more updates!