The challenge of emerging technologies for the practice of external tax auditing in times of pandemic

Abstract

The fundamental purpose of this research was to make known the existing alternatives for carrying out remote tax external audit work in companies subject to this provision in the face of the imminent arrival of globalization, which include endless technological advances and health issues. worldwide in relation to Covid-19 that accelerated the process of implementing new ways of living and development in the workplace. The general objective is to analyze the use of emerging technologies for the practice of tax auditing in times of pandemic. It was described that tax audits are currently carried out in accordance with the Statement of Auditing Practices issued by the Council of Accountants of Paraguay. On the other hand, the tools available to carry out a remote Tax Audit were identified, such as the Zoom, Meet, Teams platforms, among others for videoconferences; for the transmission of files there are options such as OnionShare, Lufi, Datash, among others and for virtual tours there are technologies such as Hodei or Avatour 360. Also, the two forms of face-to-face/distance audit were compared, with no significant differences except for the use of the technology to replace face-to-face customer service. Finally, the need was established to have a model Statement of Remote Auditing Practices to be proposed to the accountants' union for the issuance of the corresponding standard.