Nonetheless the disclosure comes at an uncomfortable time for the government, which is currently facing allegations from insiders that its national institute for AI is at risk of collapse.
The technology secretary has threatened to withdraw its funding, and wants it to focus on defence research.
Meanwhile, HMRC has already announced several efforts using AI which could streamline its operations.
“It is not yet clear how far and fast HMRC has got with its AI developments, but it has already been successfully using software that compiles and analyses data for years,” Mr Etherington said.
“The primary focus at HMRC appears to be on using AI to make life easier for taxpayers.”
He said he expected the tax authority to look into developing tools which would help people get their tax returns right, as “a lot of tax revenues can be lost through errors and mistakes”.
“It has also been announced that HMRC will be using AI to help taxpayers access over 100,000 pages of guidance on its website,” he said.
“Anything that can help on that front is likely to be welcome news to taxpayers as HMRC’s current online guidance can be bewildering to many.”