The first online courtroom hearings for claimants, in which they and their lawyers will participate via video link, are to begin this spring.
Letters are being sent to people due to attend tax appeal tribunals, asking if they would prefer to conduct their cases over secure camera and audio connections.
The new system will allow claimants to attend a hearing while at home or work, rather than having to give up a day to travel to court.
The pilot programme is part of a £1bn modernisation drive by the Ministry of Justice that is expected to expand remote hearings into other court areas. Couples applying for divorce can already conduct the process online.
Tax tribunals rule on claims about disputed assessments by HM Revenue and Customs. The hearings will involve a judge in a court taking evidence from claimants over the internet.
The software that enables the parties to communicate is free to install, according to the MoJ. If claimants wish to be represented, their lawyers can sit alongside them at their computer, or participate remotely via video link.
The first direct video hearings are due to take place in March or April. Video links are regularly used in criminal courts, in case management hearings that defendants held in prison attend remotely.
Earlier this month, however, the judge Sir Brian Leveson ordered John Worboys, the serial sex attacker, to be brought to court for a judicial review challenge over his release from prison, because the previous day a video link had repeatedly failed.
The transfer to online justice is unlikely to be smooth. There has already been criticism of the mass closure of courthouses over the past six years, including the sale of more than 220 magistrates, county and crown courts across England and Wales.
The sums spent on consultants during the modernisation programme, such as the £30m paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers, have also been questioned.
The justice minister, Lucy Frazer, said: “We are spending £1bn on transforming and modernising the justice system. Video hearings have the potential to improve access to justice and speed up cases.
“This pilot will provide important information – together with an increasing body of evidence from other countries – to drive innovation to make the wider system quicker, smarter and much more user-friendly.”
