Autilia Arfwidsson

Project summary

AI and real-time taxation: challenges and opportunities for the future of tax administration

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has accelerated the transformation of tax administration. Tax authorities around the world are increasingly using AI technologies to automate and streamline their operations, bringing taxation and reporting ever closer to real time. This research project aims to examine the transition towards AI-driven real-time taxation and reporting within the EU, with particular emphasis on the Swedish perspective.

 

Historically, taxation has been a manual and retrospective process based on physical documentation. Under the traditional system, taxpayers complete a tax return for a specific year or period and submit it to the tax authority for review, after which the tax is collected. Recent advances in AI are fundamentally changing this process. For example, AI can be used to automate the generation of electronic invoices and rapidly analyse large volumes of financial data to identify tax evasion. Such technological advances can improve tax compliance and reduce the administrative burden, both of which are essential for securing tax revenues to fund welfare states and supporting business competitiveness.

 

At the same time, these new technologies pose challenges to existing tax systems. Key questions include how tax rules can be accurately translated into AI-driven systems, how taxpayers’ rights can be protected when decisions are automated, and how the role of tax authorities will change as AI takes over an increasing number of tasks.

 

The research project focuses on three key areas. First, it will map the technological solutions and regulatory frameworks that enable AI-driven real-time taxation and reporting within the EU. Second, it will examine challenges relating to legality, legal certainty and the protection of taxpayers’ rights. Finally, the project will develop recommendations for designing technologies and regulatory frameworks in ways that uphold fundamental legal principles and rights.