Re-Cap: IBFD Dialogues Seminar at IFA Lisbon 2025: 'Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI for Tax Professionals'

The event opened with remarks from Pasquale Pistone, IBFD Academic Chairman, followed by presentations from Tjerk de Greef, IBFD Director for Tech and Data, and Benjamin Alarie, Professor at the University of Toronto and CEO at Blue J, on the foundations of generative AI.

The core point of discussion was differentiating between the risks posed by open source AI and the reliability of closed source AI, which might become a necessary tool for the preliminary phases of works of tax professionals. This principle is known as grounding, where actual authoritative source information is used to provide a grounded response. The dialogue also stressed the requirements of a responsible use of AI, which help preventing possible liability for using non-controlled information. The second part of the seminar included the reaction of tax professionals. Brigitte Baumgartner Garcia, Independent Technology Consultant, stressed the importance of prompting generative AI with precisely defined questions and of verifying the outcome before using it.

Philip Baker, Field Court Tax Chambers, Visiting Lecturer at the University of Oxford, indicated that AI might help reduce the time spent extracting the core of long judgements, but also support the work of junior barristers in preparing documents. Isabel Verlinden, Senior Partner and Head of Transfer Pricing at NOEMA Global addressed the relevance of gen AI in transfer pricing, including for compliance.

The final part of the seminar was the official launch of two new volumes in the IBFD Fundamentals series: Fundamentals of Personal Income Taxation and Fundamentals of Corporate Income Taxation, marked by a brief presentation from some of the authors including Johann Hattingh, Professor of Law at the University of Cape Town and Chief Editor of IBFD’s Bulletin for International Taxation, João Félix Pinto Nogueira, Deputy Academic Chairman of IBFD and a Professor at Catholic University Portugal, and Ivan Lazarov, Senior Associate at IBFD. As indicated by the authors, these books are educational tools for disseminating the basics of tax law around the world.

The books are now available through IBFD’s webshop and form part of a broader initiative to expand foundational tax education globally. You can browse the series here.

All in all, the seminar was a tremendous success, compounded by the rich insights from the panel and keen engagement from the audience. We look forward to next year's IBFD Dialogues on International Taxation seminar on 19 October 2026 at the IFA Congress in Melbourne.

Following us on Linkedin? Explore photos from the event here.