Artificial intelligence can boost compliance Investment Executive

Over the past few years, the Canada Revenue Agency has been using data analytics and AI, such as machine-learning algorithms that predict tax non-compliance and detect activity in the underground economy. Since 2018, the Department of Justice Canada has licensed the use of Tax Foresight, AI software developed by Blue J Legal Inc. in Toronto, which employs machine learning to predict – with about 90% accuracy, according to the company – how a court might rule on a particular tax scenario. "It's not just about speeding up [analysis] that would otherwise happen," says Benjamin Alarie, co-founder and CEO of Blue J Legal and Osler Chair of Business Law at the University of Toronto. "It's about making [widely] available a really good prediction that would otherwise be the domain of an experienced [lawyer]." AI technology could bring more certainty to the interpretation of tax law, Alarie adds: "Everyone benefits from that."