Examining different artificial intelligence models’ ability to pass Certificate of Theory in Accountancy-level tax questions

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) models become more sophisticated and entrenched in accountancy professions, this raises questions about their ability to outperform humans. This article is one of the first to examine the ability of five different AI models to pass professional tax examinations. Contribution: This article provides evidence about AI’s current ability to support or replace tax practitioners. It provides a baseline to track the progress of different AI models as they evolve. Only Grok passed, while ChatGPT, Claude, CoPilot, and Gemini failed. Notably, the AI models provided persuasive answers despite being incorrect, negating their ability to replace tax practitioners.

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Publication Details

Journal
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences
Published
2026-01-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v29i1.6348
Primary Topic
Financial Reporting and XBRL
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Examining different artificial intelligence models’ ability to pass Certificate of Theory in Accountancy-level tax questions

Wayne van Zijl, Asheer Ram
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences
Financial Reporting and XBRL
article

Examining different artificial intelligence models’ ability to pass Certificate of Theory in Accountancy-level tax questions

Wayne van Zijl, Asheer Ram
article en

Abstract

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) models become more sophisticated and entrenched in accountancy professions, this raises questions about their ability to outperform humans. This article is one of the first to examine the ability of five different AI models to pass professional tax examinations. Contribution: This article provides evidence about AI’s current ability to support or replace tax practitioners. It provides a baseline to track the progress of different AI models as they evolve. Only Grok passed, while ChatGPT, Claude, CoPilot, and Gemini failed. Notably, the AI models provided persuasive answers despite being incorrect, negating their ability to replace tax practitioners.

South African Journal of Economic and Management SciencesVol. 29(1)
University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 85%
Financial Reporting and XBRL
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