The role of generative AI in the UK tax market is of growing interest and importance. It has been recognised as not just a tool, but as a catalyst for innovation in the sector. A new report by Tolley® How Generative AI is Transforming Tax Practice reveals that UK tax professionals have been quick to recognise the efficiency benefits of generative AI.
The role of generative AI in the UK tax market is of growing interest and importance. It has been recognised as not just a tool, but as a catalyst for innovation in the sector. A new report by Tolley® How Generative AI is Transforming Tax Practice reveals that UK tax professionals have been quick to recognise the efficiency benefits of generative AI.
The survey of 446 UK tax professionals in private and in-house practice reveals that 66% of tax professionals are either already using or will soon use AI for work purposes.
Not only will generative AI automate grunt work, it can also add substantial value to more complex tasks. 91% of the survey respondents said their top priority for generative AI was researching matters. Drafting documents (87%) and preparing communications such as briefs and letters (80%) followed close behind.
Despite the interest in AI, 79% of UK tax professionals have some level of concern over the ethics and trustworthiness of public-access and free-to-use generative AI platforms. A lack of trust (29%) and concerns over hallucinations (i.e. made-up content) (27%) were the main concerns. However, if a generative AI solution could be fine-tuned for the tax market and grounded in proven, authoritative tax research and guidance content, 71% said they would be “somewhat” or “completely comfortable” using AI.
Tolley has also announced the development of Tolley+ AI™, a generative AI solution designed to transform tax research and guidance. Grounded in the Tolley’s huge repository of accurate, up-to-date and exclusive tax content, Tolley+ AI combines the power of generative AI with proprietary search technology. Tax professionals will be able to chat with Tolley+ AI as they would a trusted colleague, asking questions and getting answers or first drafts of documents, clauses and communications. It will intelligently summarise offering key insights from cases or documents. Users will be able to upload their own documents, supported by state-of-the-art encryption and privacy technology to keep sensitive data secure, and ask questions of them or have insights summarised.
Critically, every answer given by Tolley+ AI will always be backed by a verifiable, citable authority or source so that users can quickly check the validity of results instantly and effortlessly. Tolley+ AI leverages the technology used in Lexis+ AI, the legal generative AI tool that has been successfully launched in the UK, Canada and the USA. As such, Tolley+ AI benefits from the global expertise and experience of over 2,000 technologists, data scientists and subject matter experts who are focused on developing, testing and validating an AI solution specifically for the UK tax industry.
It is clear that the tax industry is excitedly preparing for a tax generative AI solution. The technology won’t merely change how tax professionals work, it will change that they can achieve. The report reveals that 32% of tax professionals in private practice have already made AI-related changes to their day-to-day operations. Interestingly, in-house tax teams are a step ahead of their private practice colleagues. 43% of in-house practitioners have changed their ways of working, including 24% adopting new AI policies, 18% launching AI-powered tools for internal use and 14% delivering staff training.
To support tax professionals in their understanding of AI and the opportunities it will present, Tolley has created the Tolley+ AI Insider program. This will offer free and exclusive access to webinars, thought leadership and breaking news on the latest AI technologies. Curated by Tolley, there will be insights from tax market leaders, innovation and technology evangelists and in-house experts. Tolley+ AI Insiders will be among the first to experience the Tolley+ AI platform.
To read the report How Generative AI is Transforming Tax Practice and become a Tolley+ AI Insider, visit https://www.lexisnexis.co.uk/research-and-reports/tax-generative-ai-report-2024.html
