French tax authorities used artificial intelligence to search for undeclared private pools from aerial photographs. The Guardian writes that as a result of the checks, the owners were fined a total of about 10m euros.

Developed by Google and Capgemini, the system can identify basins in aerial photographs and control them against land registry databases. As a result of the experiment, it detected 20,356 unregistered objects.

According to regulators, any changes to the property, including the addition of swimming pools, must be declared by citizens within 90 days of completion. A typical 30 square meters. m includes an additional fee for the owner of about 200 euros per year, experts said.

The IRS is currently considering using the system to detect undeclared outbuildings, porches, and permanent patios.

“We focused specifically on extensions of the house, such as the porch. But we need to make sure that the software can find buildings with ample space, not kennels or children’s playhouses,” said Antoine Magnat, vice president of public finance.

According to the technical team of the tax authorities, they are not yet able to distinguish the extension from an awning, terrace or tarpaulin on the ground. Software error 30%, they added.

In April 2022, it was reported that artificial intelligence mistook solar panels for swimming pools and could not find taxable outbuildings hidden behind trees or in the shade.

According to the developers, they are running tests to improve the technology.

“This is our second investigation, which will allow us to check whether the property is vacant and should no longer be taxed,” said Magnant. he added.

A pilot project to identify unregistered real estate was launched in 2021 in nine departments of France. In 2023, they plan to roll out the system to the entire country and increase the number of detected objects.

Officials expect the technology to help increase tax revenue from the construction of private pools by 40m euros per year.

Recall that in February the US Internal Revenue Service refused to use the ID.me facial recognition system.

That same month, American citizens were allowed not to use biometric authentication when receiving financial services online.