Assessment Of Employees' Perception of Artificial Intelligence Technologies in Tax Administration: Evidence of The Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS) in Nigeria

Abstract

 This study investigates the perception of employees on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in Taxation administrative using Edo State Internal Revenue Service (EIRS) as a case study. The objectives of the study were to measure employees feedback with regard to their familiarity with AI tools, level of perception towards usefulness of AI technologies, intention to use such systems in future, turnaround difficulties which may hinder adoption and correlation existed between use of these technologies and operational efficaciousness. The design of the research is survey, and data were collected using structured questionnaire from 178 employees who, through stratified random sampling. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation with the help of SPSS version 25. The regression results showed that employee’s knowledge, attitude towards its perceived usefulness and willingness to adopt AI technologies have a positive impact on operational efficiency but challenges in the adoption of AI negatively influence the operational efficiency. Employees showed significantly high knowledge about AI technologies and generally perceive AI systems as beneficial tools in enhancing operational efficiency, revenue collection, tax compliance monitoring, and service delivery. The study also found the employees are ready to adapt despite several challenges like poor infrastructure, substandard training of workforce, bad internet connectivity, resistance to change, and anxiety of job loss due to AI-based systems. As the report concludes, the success of implementing AI technologies within tax administration agencies is highly dependent upon employee’s valuation and organizational supporting technology readiness. The study suggests that more investment in technological infrastructure, employee preparedness, and organizational support systems will improve the effectiveness of AI adoption among tax administration agencies. 

Keywords: artificial intelligence, tax administration, employees’ perception, operational efficiency, technology adoption