IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, today announced the launch of new optical character recognition (OCR) and artificial intelligence (AI) functionality to digitize the tax validation and due diligence process.  The integration of these new capabilities is available through CTI Tax Solution’s Mandatory Document Due Diligence (MD³_®) and Common Reporting Standard (CRS) due diligence modules.

Firms can identify and extract data from tax form images, scanned or handwritten, and automatically bulk upload the customer data. Users benefit from digitizing the data points from multiple tax forms including CRS self-certifications, Forms W-8, W-9, 8233 and KYC documentation. These new enhancements further aid the complex validation and due diligence processes by reducing manual rekeying, saving on costly time and resources. In addition, the use of AI provides confidence that the information extracted is accurate and up to date based on a designated rating.

“Globally, organizations are paper chasing handwritten tax documentation and working to upload it into their systems,” said William Sheridan, Executive Director at IHS Markit. “The disconnect between manual entry and a fully automated process opens the door to errors and inaccurate information. As tax reporting requirements become more complex, the volume of data required will only increase. By leveraging OCR and AI functionality, we are enabling firms to transition into the digital age of due diligence.”

OCR technology utilizes AI such as natural language processing (NLP) to match images with recognized text characters to transmit data accurately for machine-readable files. This increases file searchability and extraction of key data points, reducing the number of follow-up questions needed in validation.