AI exposure: Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents
Determine tax liability or collect taxes from individuals or business firms according to prescribed laws and regulations.
Reading this score
computed53.0% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents at the 91th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 3.1 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 21 tasks it averages 2.07 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.
The most exposed thing this job does is Contact taxpayers by mail or telephone to address discrepancies and to request supporting..., at 73.3%. The least is Participate in informal appeals hearings on contested cases from other agents, at 0.0%. A gap of 73.3% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within business and financial operations occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 48 roles in the group is 47.1%, and only 13 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 21 tasks, 16 are currently banded exposed, 3 assisted and 2 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take a change in who is permitted to sign the work, which is a question for regulators rather than for engineers. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
21 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contact taxpayers by mail or telephone to address discrepancies and to request supporting documentation. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.21 | exposed |
| Answer questions from taxpayers and assist them in completing tax forms. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.17 | exposed |
| 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. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.54 | exposed |
| Enter tax return information into computers for processing. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.76 | exposed |
| Send notices to taxpayers when accounts are delinquent. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.59 | exposed |
| Notify taxpayers of any overpayment or underpayment, and either issue a refund or request further payment. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.36 | exposed |
| Impose payment deadlines on delinquent taxpayers and monitor payments to ensure that deadlines are met. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.48 | exposed |
| Collect taxes from individuals or businesses according to prescribed laws and regulations. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.78 | exposed |
| Direct service of legal documents, such as subpoenas, warrants, notices of assessment, and garnishments. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.30 | exposed |
| Maintain knowledge of tax code changes, and of accounting procedures and theory to properly evaluate financial information. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.19 | exposed |
| 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. | 47.5% | 27.5% | 25.0% | 4.02 | exposed |
| Examine and analyze tax assets and liabilities to determine resolution of delinquent tax problems. | 46.7% | 53.3% | 0.0% | 4.54 | assisted |
| Confer with taxpayers or their representatives to discuss the issues, laws, and regulations involved in returns, and to resolve problems with returns. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.41 | exposed |
| Review filed tax returns to determine whether claimed tax credits and deductions are allowed by law. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.21 | exposed |
| Review selected tax returns to determine the nature and extent of audits to be performed on them. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.02 | exposed |
| Examine accounting systems and records to determine whether accounting methods used were appropriate and in compliance with statutory provisions. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.87 | exposed |
| Maintain records for each case, including contacts, telephone numbers, and actions taken. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 4.35 | exposed |
| Determine appropriate methods of debt settlement, such as offers of compromise, wage garnishment, or seizure and sale of property. | 25.0% | 50.0% | 25.0% | 4.55 | assisted |
| Secure a taxpayer's agreement to discharge a tax assessment or submit contested determinations to other administrative or judicial conferees for appeals hearings. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.63 | assisted |
| Prepare briefs and assist in searching and seizing records to prepare charges and documentation for court cases. | 12.5% | 25.0% | 62.5% | 3.76 | untouched |
| Participate in informal appeals hearings on contested cases from other agents. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.79 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean. 1 task(s) lacked a usable O*NET weight and are shown but excluded from the weighting.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 3.12 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.26 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.74 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.60 | 0-3 |
| Context | 2.07 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.69 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.