A Taxing Dilemma: Robot Taxes and the Challenges of Effective Taxation of AI, Automation and Robotics in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Abstract

Technology development has grown rapidly in the last decades and gained importance for accounting and auditing through its identified potentials. Particularly the automation of judgment systems and systems that require human intervention, are deemed to be more relevant to confront a transformation through Robotic Process Automation (RPA). During the continuous development, the augmentation of such systems through Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a greenfield project with high expectations. However theoretical frameworks have not yet been elaborative and sufficient to capture how such deployments can be conducted. Addressing this research gap, this study presents a summarized overview of the transforming RPA ecosystem and indicates what challenges are critical to being confronted for a successful implementation of such systems in accounting and auditing.