Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents

Collect taxes from individuals or businesses according to prescribed laws and regulations.

AI: Fully automatable - Routine tax collection processes—calculations, notices, payment processing, and automated enforcement workflows—are largely automatable within prescribed laws and systems by 2025.

Maintain records for each case, including contacts, telephone numbers, and actions taken.

AI: Fully automatable - Routine case recordkeeping of contacts, phone numbers, and actions can be fully automated with databases, workflow systems, and RPA.

Enter tax return information into computers for processing.

AI: Fully automatable - OCR, structured e-filing, and system integration enable full automation of entering tax return information into computers.

Send notices to taxpayers when accounts are delinquent.

AI: Fully automatable - Generating and sending delinquency notices based on account status is rules-driven and can be fully automated by 2025.

Check tax forms to verify that names and taxpayer identification numbers are correct, that computations have been performed correctly, or that amounts match those on supporting documentation.

AI: Fully automatable - Automated validation against databases, computational checks, and cross-referencing of digital supporting documents allow full automation of identifier and computation verification in most cases.

Process individual and corporate income tax returns, and sales and excise tax returns.

AI: Fully automatable - Processing tax returns is largely rule‑based and already automatable—AI systems can compute liabilities, apply statutory rules, and file routine individual, corporate, sales, and excise returns end‑to‑end.

Review filed tax returns to determine whether claimed tax credits and deductions are allowed by law.

AI: Fully automatable - Determining whether claimed credits and deductions meet statutory criteria is predominantly rules‑based and can be fully automated for the large majority of routine and well‑defined claims.

Impose payment deadlines on delinquent taxpayers and monitor payments to ensure that deadlines are met.

AI: Fully automatable - Imposing deadlines, sending reminders, monitoring payments, and escalating nonpayment are workflow tasks that can be fully automated.

Notify taxpayers of any overpayment or underpayment, and either issue a refund or request further payment.

AI: Fully automatable - Systems can detect overpayments/underpayments and trigger refunds or payment requests within payment processing workflows, with exceptions routed for review.

Determine appropriate methods of debt settlement, such as offers of compromise, wage garnishment, or seizure and sale of property.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can analyze taxpayer financials and applicable law to recommend appropriate debt-settlement methods (offers in compromise, garnishment, seizure) and rank options for decision-makers.

Install systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data or provide advice on such systems, based on examination of current financial records.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can examine current financial records, design recording systems, produce configuration and implementation specifications, and even generate scripts to install or configure such systems.

Maintain knowledge of tax code changes, and of accounting procedures and theory to properly evaluate financial information.

AI: Partial - AI can continuously monitor tax code changes and summarize accounting procedures but often requires human judgment for complex interpretations and precedent-driven decisions.

Contact taxpayers by mail or telephone to address discrepancies and to request supporting documentation.

AI: Partial - Automated mail, email, and scripted voice systems can handle routine outreach and document requests, but nuanced telephone interactions and dispute resolution typically need humans.

Confer with taxpayers or their representatives to discuss the issues, laws, and regulations involved in returns, and to resolve problems with returns.

AI: Partial - Conferencing to discuss legal issues and negotiate resolutions often requires human expertise and discretionary judgment, so AI can only partially automate the process.

Conduct independent field audits and investigations of income tax returns to verify information or to amend tax liabilities.

AI: Partial - AI can automate document review, data matching, and evidence collation for field audits but cannot perform on‑site inspections, interviews, or exercise enforcement authority required for independent field investigations.

Investigate claims of inability to pay taxes by researching court information for the status of liens, mortgages, or financial statements, or by locating assets through third parties.

AI: Partial - AI can search public records and synthesize financial and court data to assess inability-to-pay claims and locate leads on assets, but cannot fully validate nonpublic information or perform authoritative third‑party outreach and enforcement actions.

Review selected tax returns to determine the nature and extent of audits to be performed on them.

AI: Partial - AI can triage returns and recommend the scope of audits using risk models and anomaly detection, but final scope-setting typically requires human judgment and contextual legal interpretation.

Examine accounting systems and records to determine whether accounting methods used were appropriate and in compliance with statutory provisions.

AI: Partial - AI can analyze accounting records and flag potentially inappropriate methods or inconsistencies with statutes, but nuanced determinations about appropriate accounting methods and statutory compliance typically need expert human interpretation.

Recommend criminal prosecutions or civil penalties.

AI: Partial - AI can identify patterns suggesting criminal conduct and estimate penalty exposure, but decisions to recommend prosecutions or impose civil penalties require legal judgment and prosecutorial authority by humans.

Answer questions from taxpayers and assist them in completing tax forms.

AI: Partial - Chatbots and guided assistants can answer common questions and help complete forms, but they cannot fully replace professional tax advice for complex or ambiguous situations.

Participate in informal appeals hearings on contested cases from other agents.

AI: Partial - AI can prepare briefs, evidence summaries, and recommended negotiation positions for informal appeals, but cannot fully substitute for human participation in hearings, negotiation, and discretionary adjudication.

Examine and analyze tax assets and liabilities to determine resolution of delinquent tax problems.

AI: Partial - AI can calculate liabilities, model resolution options, and recommend collection strategies for delinquent accounts, but resolving delinquency often requires human negotiation, legal discretion, and enforcement actions.

Secure a taxpayer's agreement to discharge a tax assessment or submit contested determinations to other administrative or judicial conferees for appeals hearings.

AI: Partial - AI can draft settlement proposals and prepare appeal materials but cannot legally secure a taxpayer's agreement or represent them in hearings without human authority and credentialing.

Request that the state or federal revenue service prepare a return on a taxpayer's behalf in cases where taxes have not been filed.

AI: Partial - AI can prepare the necessary requests and identify missing filings but submitting formal requests to revenue services and performing identity/authorization steps typically requires human action or verified credentials.

Prepare briefs and assist in searching and seizing records to prepare charges and documentation for court cases.

AI: Partial - AI can draft legal briefs and perform electronic record search and organization to support prosecutions, but cannot physically execute searches or seizures or exercise law-enforcement authority.

Direct service of legal documents, such as subpoenas, warrants, notices of assessment, and garnishments.

AI: Not automatable - Direct service of legal documents requires physical delivery and authorized legal process that AI cannot perform or legally execute on its own.