Installation taxes it’s so painful that many people would happily give the job to a robot. In the years of generative AIwhere chatbots can ring a sound school essay less than a minute, it tempts your imagination tax return it could be the following.
There is just one small problem. The Internal Revenue Service expects financial data to be accurate, not just “close enough.”
I asked some tax professionals whether you should have a general-purpose AI interview like this ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Confusion do your taxes. The answer was clear.
“I don’t recommend that at all,” said Travis Thompson, a tax attorney and director in the business and finance group at the Fennemore firm.
“My advice would be no,” said Sterling Raskie, senior professor of finance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Tax season has everyone looking for shortcuts. Federal income tax returns are risky and complicated — and that’s exactly what makes them unsuitable for a chatbot. AI is very good at telling right or wrong.
However, if you can’t afford to hire a trusted, qualified person to help you with your taxes, there are some things AI can be useful for during tax season.
You can’t trust AI to be accurate
The power of a generative AI model is astounding. But let’s remember that, at its core, these educated guess machines are simply finding patterns and providing meaningful results. They cannot distinguish estimation from reality.
The numbers on your tax forms are expected to be correct, not just the ballpark. That’s why doing taxes is such a pain, and why we shouldn’t take shortcuts. Mistakes can cost you your refund, or you could face expensive fees and fines, or worse.
“It’s important to remember that if an AI chatbot provides incorrect guidance and a person uses it to file an incorrect tax return, they (the person) are liable for the violation or violation, which may include penalties, interest, and refunds of lost money,” said Chris Linderwell, vice president of consumer tax products at H&R Block.
Some tax-specific AI tools are trained on and rely directly on information about the tax code. But the generic one which you use for menu planning or travel research it’s not one of those.
Read more: Tax Season 2026: What Documents and Information Do You Need to File Income Taxes?
You can’t trust AI with sensitive documents
A lot personal informationlike your Social Security number and financial statements, should be kept safe — or at least as safe as possible in today’s digital world, where data collection via email and social media it’s everywhere, too data breach they are common.
Chatbots manage data in the cloud, which is just a private company’s computer. They have it features “memory”. which can return information in unexpected ways. You may find yourself asking a completely unrelated question down the line and getting the answer from the data in your tax documents. You probably don’t want that.
The dangers of online privacy are already deep, but chatbots are well known for them compromise and leakage of sensitive information. Grok, a chatbot created by Elon Musk’s xAI, was recently found to be revealing personal information to some users.
Be very careful about giving the AI anything you want to keep private, like your tax information.
“You don’t want those numbers floating around on the Internet,” Thompson said.
How AI can help you with your taxes
While you shouldn’t trust a large language model to fill out your tax forms, you can still use it as an enhanced search engine for information, that is, for educational purposes. Just be sure to verify its accuracy before relying on it.
I asked a representative of OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, whether a chatbot is something taxpayers should use for filing. ChatGPT does not have access to bank accounts, and cannot act as a licensed financial professional, attorney, or accountant. “You should always review ChatGPT’s output as it is not the domain of licensed professionals,” said an OpenAI representative.
But it can help with a basic gut check or point you in the right direction, such as interpreting tax terms, preparing checklists or giving you questions to ask your auditor. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that it infringed Ziff Davis’ copyrights in training and using its AI programs.)
For example, AI can help you decide what to discuss with a tax professional, what documents to process or even identify tax situations you may not have noticed. What should you know if you make money with crypto? What is the difference between a joint filing marriage and a head of household?
Also, remember that the quality of the AI response depends not only on the model, but also how do you ask a question. And repeating the same question multiple times may produce different answers, especially if you express an opinion or skew the way you ask (AI sycophancy is real). If external links are provided in the results from AI, check the findings against the original source, and confirm that the source is reliable.
Remember: You don’t know what you don’t know.
The less you know about that field, the more you trust those programs,” said Thompson. “It doesn’t just depend on what the program says; it depends on what the user is asking the program to do.”
Use someone when you do your taxes
Experts emphasize the importance of having a “human in the loop” for AI systems, whether they’re writing LinkedIn posts or handling important personal information. Mistakes are the fault of the person who decided to go with the AI project, not the technology itself. Don’t blame the calculator if you do the math wrong.
Someone with judgment and accountability should make the final call. When it comes to a simple tax return, you can be that person.
Raskie said if you have a basic return and you trust yourself to be careful and double check the numbers, you should be able to file them yourself. A “basic return” usually means that you only earn W-2 income and take standard deductions — no complex income, deductions or self-employment. You can fill out the forms yourself, by following step-by-step instructions using the IRS’s fillable online forms, or by using a free file software option.
H&R Block online uses AI to help you fill out automatically by reviewing receipts and uploaded documents to fill out the fields for you. AI, in this sense, saves time. But in the end, you have to make sure that the information is accurate.
If you need help from a tax professional, most DIY tax software, including H&R Block and TurboTax, offer the option to have a professional review and file for you for a fee or upgrade.
Many home tax software programs offer security services in the event of an audit or risk assessment before filing — but at an additional cost. H&R Block says it will offer representation to the auditors and even refunds (if they make a mistake).
“If you’re concerned, it’s worth your weight in gold to hire a licensed tax preparer to do your return for you, preferably a CPA or so-called enrolled agent,” says Thompson.
If you seek the help of a trusted licensed professional, you may be able to go to them if there is an error on your return. You will still be responsible for paying the government what you owe, but you may be able to hold your tax preparer accountable in cases of fraud or some serious mistakes.
If you decide to trust a chatbot to do your tax return, be prepared for an IRS audit. And don’t expect to blame the AI.
