Americans are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Claude to prepare their tax returns, but experts warn that the technology can provide outdated or inaccurate guidance, increasing the risk of making costly mistakes.
According to an Adobe poll, about 26% of people are using AI to file their 2025 tax return this tax season, up from 11% a year ago. Elon Musk said in a post on X that the Grok AI chatbot will “help you pay your taxes.” He was replying to another X user who said in a post that he found this tool helpful. increase tax refund For $1,400.
But tax experts warn that Americans may be putting themselves at risk by relying on AI, as chatbots can provide outdated or misleading guidance. For example, recent tax changes under the Republican One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) may not be reflected in AI-generated answers.
“Using AI for tax purposes is not new. AI is integrated into tax preparation software and that’s how they generate returns,” Caroline Bruckner, a tax professor at American University’s Kogod School of Business, told CBS News. “However, we need to be very careful how we use ubiquitous AI. AI alone cannot produce accurate tax returns.”
One reason for this is that government websites, including IRS.gov, contain a lot of outdated information that doesn’t reflect changes in tax law. Large language models can extract from such material and present it to the user as up-to-date.
“Our tax code is incredibly complex, and our website needs to have information that was true not only in 2020 but also in 2025, but the tax code and tax cuts have changed a lot in five years,” Bruckner said. “Where Generated AI can really cause problems is if you just ask a general question about deductions. You might see a summary of deductions that are no longer applicable, or deductions that are in effect for this tax year.”
How can AI help with taxes?
But Bruckner and other experts said there are some useful applications for AI when it comes to tax preparation.
“You can ask questions without providing any personally identifying information,” Bruckner said. For example, you can ask them to explain complex tax concepts, such as: Tips are not taxed If you are a worker who earns tips.
“It’s perfect for translating complex tax concepts into English,” Bruckner says. That said, it’s always important to think critically about the output produced by AI and scrutinize the sources it cites.
Lisa Greene-Lewis, a tax expert at Intuit, which developed the TurboTax filing program, said it’s fine to use freely available AI programs to educate the public about tax concepts. But she doesn’t recommend people use them to file tax returns.
“There are differences between these AIs and TurboTax AI models. TurboTax AI models are trained on hundreds of millions of tax returns and financial data points, comply with the latest tax laws, and are verified by tax experts,” she said.
potential pitfalls
Mark Gallegos, a tax accountant at accounting firm Port Brown, said AI could help outline tax law changes under OBBBA, such as the tip deduction, but it is not a substitute for using experienced tax professionals and specialized tax preparation software tools.
“We can’t prepare tax returns at this point. We may get there, but we’re not there yet,” he said.
Danny Wuerffel, who served as IRS commissioner from 2023 to 2025, told CBS News that ChatGPT and similar AIs are not specific to the tax field and have not been tested for accuracy. He cautions never to provide sensitive personal information to such models.
“People should use AI with extreme caution and seek assurance that their information will not be collected or shared for commercial purposes,” he said.
Free filing tools are not available
Former Treasury Department chief of staff Julie Siegel said that in the absence of free filing tools provided by the government, people are turning to large-scale language models (LLMs). I.R.S. directly deleted the file The tool, created during the Biden administration, could save taxpayers $160 per person.
“People are turning to LLMs because the government has chosen to pull back on the apps they’ve already built,” she says. “But these apps don’t understand how a particular set of facts applies to a particular tax situation.”
He added that IRS materials can be misleading, and LLMs have difficulty interpreting old and new information.
For example, an IRS form with the heading “Overtime pay is not taxable” may suggest to the LLM that overtime pay is not taxable, which is inaccurate.
“So even if an LLM references an authoritative source like the IRS, it may incorrectly calculate that overtime pay is not taxed at all,” she says.
She does not believe it is accurate and points out that only individuals are responsible for the accuracy of their own returns.
“If Claude misunderstands an IRS form and makes a mistake and you end up owing a lot of money, you are ultimately responsible,” she said.
