IBM Watson Takes on Tax Preparation with H&R Block

IBM is working with H&R Block to apply Watson's analytical intelligence to a consumer-facing tax preparation service.

IBM Watson technology will be used by H&R Block’s tax professionals this tax season to help deliver the best outcome for each unique tax situation, while helping clients better understand how different filing options can impact their tax outcome. As part of the first phase of the collaboration, H&R Block and IBM development teams trained Watson in the language of tax, first applying the technology to the thousands of questions and topics discussed during the return filing process.

IBM said Watson is a good match because the field of tax preparation involves massive volumes of data, including a federal tax code with more than 74,000 pages and thousands of yearly tax law changes, all of which impact a client’s tax outcome.

“IBM has shown how complex, data-rich industries such as healthcare, retail and education are being transformed through the use of Watson. Now with H&R Block, we’re applying the power of cognitive computing in an entirely new way that everyone can relate to and benefit from – the tax prep process,” said David Kenny, senior vice president, IBM Watson and Cloud Platform.

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/51505.wss