Tax experts are soon getting a helping hand into finding deductions that the taxpayer has missed out. A partnership between International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM) Watson and H&R Block will facilitate the new turn of events. In the initiative that is slated to starts Feb. 6, the tax preparer’s workers will easily get tax advice from IBM’s artificial intelligence. The duo’s deal intends to bring to end long and boring meetings between customers and H&R Block tax professionals.
In a common case scenario, millions of people visit one of H&R Block’s 10,000 U.S. offices during tax season. However, this will no longer be the case; thanks to the tax services giant that is seeking to bring digitalized services to taxpayers.
This is one of IBM’s key businesses alongside others the likes of cloud computing and cyber security. Nonetheless, the project, which will be using close to 70,000 HP monitors, should not be taken as a promotion according to H&R Block CEO Bill Cobb. It is not cheap either.
Customers will be asked to provide various details during the tax consultations with an H&R Block representative. The details will touch on areas of finances, occupations and the properties they have acquired in the previous year. The information will then be logged into the system and from it, Watson can obtain a clearer picture of an individual. This will enable the representative to provide adequate advice.
But there are concerns about privacy of personal tax information
Customers are concerned about the privacy of their tax information given that they will not an option of opting out of the service once they have registered. However, H&R Block says that user data is anonymized hence personal information the likes of Social Security numbers will not be identifiable.
Nonetheless, the technology is a work in progress. Therefore, it is expected to get better with time. It now remains to be seen whether or not it will achieve the enlisted goals.
Meanwhile, IBM’s stock was trading at $174.29 a fall of $0.23 or 0.13%.
