Would you trust an AI system to prepare your taxes if it could not reliably tell HMRC guidance from information published by the IRS?
In this episode of AI at Work, I speak with Arjun Kumar, cofounder of Taxd, about AI tax automation, digital tax filing, and the continuing role of human judgment in regulated financial services.
Arjun began his career at PwC after joining through a school-leaver program. While working in expat tax, he and his cofounder saw how professional services firms often relied on offshoring and annual cost reductions rather than sustained investment in technology. Their attempt to promote a different approach internally eventually led them to create Taxd during the pandemic.
We discuss Arjun’s prediction that routine tax compliance will become increasingly autonomous. When the required data already exists across tax portals, bank accounts, payroll systems, investment platforms, and brokerages, software can connect those sources and complete much of the repetitive work. AI can also help review hundreds of transactions for landlords, sole traders, and small business owners.
However, tax advice often depends on jurisdiction, personal circumstances, and overlapping rules. Arjun recalls seeing customers use AI as a tax advisor, only to receive guidance drawn from the wrong country. A confident answer from a chatbot can become expensive when HMRC and the IRS are discussing entirely different tax systems.
Arjun explains why Taxd combines software and AI with access to human accountants. We also discuss real-time tax reporting, Making Tax Digital, privacy, anonymized data, and how patterns across tax filings can help customers identify relevant deductions and questions.
For founders, Arjun shares why specialist edge cases can provide a strong opening. Taxd began with expat tax, using its founders’ existing knowledge to serve customers whose needs were often poorly covered by general accounting services.
Could your business automate routine compliance while preserving human responsibility for the decisions that carry real consequences? Listen to the episode and share your thoughts with me.
**The Team at TAXD have kindly offered a discount code for listeners of the podcast. Use TECHTALKS to get 10% off any tax filing services (please note, this applies to filing only and excludes our advisory services).
