Tax Academy of Singapore says AI is a tool, not a human replacement
Source: DDTC News
The Tax Academy of Singapore says AI assists tax professionals with daily tasks but is not deployed at the organisational level, reflecting a cautious public-sector approach to AI that keeps human judgement in the loop.
The Tax Academy of Singapore has drawn a clear line on AI: the technology is a tool to assist tax professionals, not a replacement for human judgement. Dennis Lui, CEO of the Tax Academy and Deputy Commissioner of IRAS, said the agency has encouraged employees to use AI for daily tasks but has not deployed it at the organisational level.
The comments reflect a pragmatic stance that's becoming common across Singapore's public sector. Rather than rushing to automate, agencies are letting individual staff experiment with AI tools while the government develops governance frameworks for larger-scale deployment. IRAS appears to be taking a measured approach, building internal familiarity before committing to systemic change.
The distinction between individual-level and organisational-level AI use is significant. At the individual level, AI can help draft correspondence, summarise case files, or flag anomalies. At the organisational level, deploying AI to make tax assessments or enforcement decisions raises questions of accountability, transparency, and legal liability that Singapore's regulators are still working through.
Why it matters for Singapore: Singapore's tax authority is one of the most sophisticated in Asia, and its approach to AI sets a template for other government agencies. The cautious, employee-first rollout mirrors the broader national strategy: build AI literacy across the workforce before committing to large-scale automation, and keep human oversight firmly in the loop.
