How AI Is Changing the Way Americans File Taxes — and What It Still Gets Wrong
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now a permanent part of tax season, with the IRS, the tax-prep industry and the familiar software programs most Americans use to e-file during those frantic, stressful early months of each new year all integrating AI into their services.
However, a limited but growing number of individual taxpayers are incorporating AI into the annual ritual of settling up with the Treasury Department. While chatbots can be a useful tool for filing returns, many are making a few key errors when using AI to pay their bills or claim their refunds.
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AI for Tax Assistance Isn’t Quite Mainstream — at Least Not Yet
In March, global data analytics and integration firm Qlik released a study finding that more Americans experimented with or relied on AI during the 2026 tax season than in the prior year. The percentage of taxpayers consulting with ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or another chatbot is now in the double digits, with 11% of those who filed a return reporting using AI to some degree while filing.
Unsurprisingly, the youngest adults were most likely to lean on the emerging technology, with 23% of 18- to 24-year-olds spearheading the trend, compared to just 2% of the 55-and-up crowd.
However, mid-career adults between 35 and 44 were most likely to be what Qlik calls “power users” — those who go all in by including W-2s, 1099s and other income data, Social Security numbers, investment details and client or employer information.
Bots Are Still Assistants, Not Replacements for Software or Human Help
The study found that the overwhelming majority of taxpayers across all demographics still rely on tax software to e-file or hire human tax professionals to do it for them.
Those who are incorporating AI into their filing regimen use it mostly as an assistant for tasks such as:
Identifying qualifying credits or deductions
Reviewing returns for accuracy and errors
Researching and asking general questions about deadlines, law changes, forms and rules
Getting help with filling out specific sections of their returns
Estimating refunds or bills
Creating checklists and organizing documents
Many others are likely using AI without even realizing it. For example, Gmail is now powered by Google’s Gemini platform, so if you searched your inbox for incoming tax documents, you technically used AI to do your taxes.
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The study found that nearly half of respondents who didn’t use AI cited concerns about data exposure. They doubted any AI platform's ability to safeguard their most sensitive and comprehensive personal and financial information against hacking, breaches or mishandling, or to prevent it from being used in their own generative and machine-learning processes.
However, just 16% shared similar skepticism about AI’s accuracy or its vulnerability to so-called hallucinations, which a Forbes analysis found to be the most alarming misstep.
AI has proven to be a useful tool for general tax research, organization, double-checking and estimation. However, no generative AI bot is a tax advisor, nor is it a tax law database. The emerging class of digital pathfinders who are leveraging AI during tax season might get through the process more quickly or see bigger refunds and lower bills — but only if they have a healthy skepticism of AI’s abilities, an understanding of how it derives its responses and a realistic appreciation of its many limitations.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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