The Tax Office of the Canton of Solothurn relies on online Support

The Tax Office of the Canton of Solothurn is responsible for ensuring that the Canton and its municipalities receive the necessary financial resources for their diverse tasks. Like many other public offices, the tax office of the Canton of Solothurn has entered the digital age with eTax and eSteuerkonto and increasingly relies on the latest technological means for its service offerings. 

But there are many other ways to efficiently reduce repetitive requests. The Solothurn Tax Office has also recognized this: The Tax Office chatbot greets website users on the relevant pages for eTax, eTax account, and on the general entry page, accepts questions at any time, and answers them directly in the chat window using text, images, or videos. 

For the Tax Office of the Canton of Solothurn (das Steueramt des Kantons Solothurn), a friendly tone is important. This starts with a greeting that is appropriate for the time of day (good morning, good evening, good day...), which the chatbot is easily capable of thanks to the Robot connection.

The specific topics covered are as follows:

• Filing or completing the tax declaration
• Tax invoice, payment or refund of taxes
• Questions about the tax assessment
• Requesting copies of documents
• Information on property sales/purchases, inheritances, gifts or pension capital benefits and withholding taxes (Quellensteuer)
• Changes can be reported directly in the chatbot or powers of attorney can be forwarded.

If the bot is unable to process or resolve a request on its own, a contact form is available in the chatbot window, which users can use to submit their request. Employees of the Solothurn Tax Office will then contact them promptly and can handle more complex inquiries. By entering the postal code, the bot is able, thanks to a robotic workflow, to tell users which department is responsible for them - another highlight. 

The use of a bot not only gives the Tax Office an innovative and technologically advanced image to the outside world, but also provides the Office with exciting customer feedback and new insights as a basis for further process optimization. In the next phase, the use of the chatbot in other departments of the Canton of Solothurn is already being considered.