Sars wants AI-driven revamp within four months

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The South African Revenue Service (Sars), seeking to automate error-prone manual processing of critical information as soon as possible, is on the hunt for enhanced technology incorporating AI that will allow real-time processing and analysis. The agency, which recently breached the R2-trillion revenue collection mark for the first time, is looking to sharpen its claws and enhance tax administration — with AI set to play a more pronounced role. Under the new leadership of Johnstone Makhubu, it has issued a request for proposals for new systems. In its tender document, Sars acknowledges that its existing reliance on manual processing of large volumes of data creates delays and inconsistencies, and is an obstacle to producing timely, actionable insights. It said this has limited its ability to personalise services, optimise resource deployment and manage compliance in a responsive manner. Lack of integration between its systems hampered Sars’s ability to “generate deeper insights and co-ordinate interventions across the taxpayer journey”.“Sars requires a next-generation customer insights platform to replace its expiring solution and to address critical operational and strategic gaps. The platform should enable Sars to gauge the full customer and employee feedback lifecycle — from data collection to insight generation and service recovery,” the request for proposals reads.“The platform should further enable automated, real-time data collection; AI-powered trends and sentiment analysis; and seamless integration with Sars systems to support data-driven decision-making, proactive service improvements, and taxpayer-centric compliance strategies.”It says it wants technology that will boost the efficiency and accuracy of data collection and analysis, “positioning Sars as a data-driven, taxpayer-centric organisation and facilitating a crucial shift from reactive to proactive service design and decision-making”.The agency is setting the bar high for bidders, saying the platform must deliver a minimum of 99.9% uptimeThe agency has launched a “modernisation 3.0” programme, which requires it to build an intelligent tax and customs administration platform as part of a broader ecosystem that uses advanced data science and AI. The intention is to augment the work of its staff with insights from data.Sars told potential bidders that the customer insights platform must be in place by October 11. The document states that estimated migration volume is in the region of more than 4-million historical survey responses, inclusive of demographic data.Sars said the platform must be capable of handling a minimum of 3-million survey responses a year, with flexibility to scale up to provide 20% annual growth in response capacity.The agency is setting the bar high for bidders, saying the platform must deliver a minimum of 99.9% uptime, excluding scheduled maintenance. Sars spokesperson Siphithi Sibeko told Business Times that the customer insights platform the agency is looking for aligns with its focus on accelerating modernisation through the use of data, digital capabilities and AI, while improving efficiency and reducing reliance on manual processes.He added that the platform will allow for collection of taxpayer and trader feedback across multiple channels.“Sars plans to implement the new system within the current implementation cycle to ensure continuity in collecting taxpayer and trader service experience feedback, conducting deeper sentiment research, and producing actionable reporting,” Sibeko said.“The AI-enabled capabilities of the platform are expected to improve how Sars collects taxpayer and trader feedback of service experience, as well as the speed at which the data can be analysed.”The new system would build on “the progress made over recent years to maintain Sars as a modern, data-driven institution”.The agency is seeking cutting-edge AI technology, looking to procure capabilities that would allow it to “replicate and automate complex, human-logic decision-making processes across its operations”.Sars aims to use AI in automating administrative decision-making on submissions from individuals. One of the big reforms Sars is undertaking is a revamp of the diesel refund system that was introduced in 2001. The overhaul is geared towards minimising costly errors, which were highlighted by the recent R5bn settlement with Eskom over unduly denied refunds.To address such pitfalls, Sars wants to create a dedicated platform for qualifying users and sellers to register and claim diesel rebates.