State of use of AI tax systems
The first mention of the use of AI systems by the Tax and Customs Administration of the Republic of Slovakia (PFS) dates back to 2012.
What functions are performed with AI?
Based on publicly available data, machine-learning algorithms are used by the PFS to perform at least three functions:
- Taxpayer assistance: the PFS deployed ‘TAXANA’ in 2018, a chatbot which can automatically answer taxpayer queries on various topics such as: tax returns and tax documentation, electronic filing, corporate, labour and personal tax burdens and VAT. TAXANA was for the PFS developed by DataConcept.
- Risk-detection ‘eKasa’: eKasa is a system of immobile and mobile electronic cash register, which transfers data to the tax administration in real-time. The bulk of this data is transferred to the central data warehouse for further processing by risk-scoring algorithms. In real-time, the eKasa system can designate documents transferred as ‘invalid’, ‘deposit’ or ‘withdrawal’. (For more information see our dedicated publication on eKasa)
- External risk-management (risk-scoring) ‘AIS-R’: The tool predicts the risk of tax non-compliance for each individual taxpayers to devise treatment strategies and (pre-)select taxpayers for audit.
What data can be processed by these systems?
The data used by TAXANA and the by the risk-scoring algorithms is not specified.
The data used in the eKasa system is listed in §8(1) of ‘The Law of 18 June 2008 on the use of the electronic cash register and on the amendment of the Act of the Slovak National Council no. 511/1992’.
The data processed by the PFS includes: the electronic cash register code, the tax identification number, the unique personal identifier of the entrepreneur (UKI), the VAT identification number, the trademark, the seat of the business, the name of the business, the time and place where the goods or services were sold, the designation code of the goods or services, a description of the goods or services sold, the quantity of the goods or services sold, their price, the price rounding, the VAT rate and VAT base, exemption rates, and other documents for entrepreneurs in specific sectors listed in §8(2).
Are these systems regulated by specific norms?
Currently, the use of TAXANA and risk-scoring algorithms is not regulated by specific legal norms.
The eKasa system is regulated by ‘The Law of 18 June 2008 on the use of the electronic cash register and on the amendment of the Act of the Slovak National Council no. 511/1992.
