The Hanoi Tax Department, the General Department of Taxation, and the Hanoi People's Committee, last week launched a virtual assistant to support taxpayers after eight months of development.

This is one of the first applications in the master plan on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into tax management. The program can compile and filter legal regulations, policies, and tax administrative procedures, edit over 10,000 bilingual FAQs, and perform various other tasks.

The virtual assistant provides quick and accurate answers, preloaded with templates for administrative procedures, as well as user-friendly instructional videos.

Residents and businesses can easily access and interact with the virtual assistant anytime and anywhere via the Tax Department's online portal, the eTax Mobile application, and the iHanoi digital citizen app.

The launch of the virtual assistant is a significant milestone in the Hanoi Tax Department's digital transformation path, said Ha Minh Hai, Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee.

"It represents the city's determination, creativity, and decisive action in digital transformation and administrative reform, which sets out 'One Goal - Three Principles - Six Commitments'," he said.

The goal is to develop Hanoi as a "civilized, modern, green, smart, peaceful, prosperous, and globally-connected" capital. The three principles are "Respect for the Law, Always Listening, and Service-Oriented Attitude". The six commitments are "Comprehensive Understanding, Long-term Vision, Creative Thinking, Intelligent Solutions, Decisive Action, and Practical Outcomes".

Hai also recommended that the tax department integrate functions on data analysis and forecast to enhance the app's operations. He urged the department to reach out to people and businesses to ensure the app runs efficiently.

The Deputy Chairman also suggested that a feedback channel for users be set up, aiming for "Four Utilities and Two Creative Stakeholders".

The "Four Utilities" refer to serving "everyone, at any time, in any place, and on any device". The "Two Creative Stakeholders" are "residents" and "tax agencies". Residents are the end-users, and collaborate with the tax officials to contribute to the development of the app and Hanoi's digital transformation and socio-economic progresses.

Mai Xuan Thanh, Director General of the General Department of Taxation, praised the Hanoi Tax Department as leading innovative unit in implementing administrative reform and digital transformation.

"The virtual assistant will transform traditional support methods, enabling the tax authorities to better serve taxpayers," he said.

He expected that organizations, businesses, households, and individual taxpayers will fully support the program, giving feedback to help improve the product.

Thanh also called on the General Department of Taxation and the Hanoi Tax Department to continue updating and clarifying the data to ensure the app's accuracy and comprehensiveness.