Overview
- Roughly 26% of taxpayers are using AI for 2025 returns this season, according to Adobe polling cited by CBS News.
- Many people use chatbots alongside tax software or a preparer, yet about one‑third rely on AI alone, which H&R Block’s Andy Phillips warns can yield “confidently wrong” answers.
- Tax pros and the IRS deploy specialized AI trained on tax data and reviewed by experts, unlike general chatbots that may miss recent law changes such as provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- General tools can explain concepts, build checklists, organize documents and run rough calculations, but they cannot access accounts or file returns, and users should avoid sharing Social Security numbers or scans of tax forms.
- Surveys show privacy fears are the top reason many avoid AI, even as some experts say the end of the IRS Direct File option has nudged others to try chatbots.