The 2026 tax season is underway, and some Americans are turning to AI for help with their taxes. But is that a good idea?
For many Americans, a tax refund is the biggest check they'll see all year. It's the money that knocks down credit-card balances, covers the "oops" bills, or refills savings that inflation quietly siphoned off.
This tax season, artificial intelligence (AI) plays a much bigger role than most people realize, adding real convenience and new worries to one of the most stressful tasks many of us deal with all year.
Yes, the IRS is using AI now
The IRS reports it now relies on AI to help narrow the "tax gap" -- the difference between what Americans owe and what each person actually pays. The agency uses machine learning to flag higher-risk returns, from unreported side income to crypto activity, and complex, high-income filings.
In theory, that's progress: the IRS is finally dragging its systems into the modern economy. But it also means less margin for error in a world where many people earn money in messier, harder-to-track ways than the tax code was designed for.
"When the IRS uses AI to help figure out what to flag, taxpayers need better tools on their side, too," says Lisa Green-Lewis, a CPA and tax expert with TurboTax based in Orange County, California. "The goal is to avoid mistakes that are harder to fix later."
Can AI help me do my taxes?
The short answer is "yes." But not all AI is created equally. I would no sooner trust a general-purpose chatbot with my bank statements or Social Security number than I would put them on blast via TikTok.
"The biggest risk we see isn't using AI, it's using the wrong kind of AI," adds Green-Lewis. "We've been using our own proprietary AI for the last 10 years, making sure it works alongside the most recent tax code, security protections, and with human review built-in. A general chatbot doesn't perform that way. Those personalized differences really matter when your refund or an audit is on the line."
Intuit, the company behind TurboTax and Credit Karma, recently combined the two services into an integrated consumer platform to make it easier for people to do everything in one place without juggling multiple apps. The aim is to help people save a notable amount of time and money, and to risk as tax enforcement and financial complexity increases.
"When you automate the tedious parts -- pulling documents, checking math, organizing information -- you actually reduce the risk of expensive mistakes," says Mark Notarainni, an executive at Intuit. "AI isn't there to replace people. It's there to slow things down where accuracy matters and make sure nothing important gets missed."
Some filers say, 'it's about time'
Many filers are glad fin-tech's finally getting this sort of AI infusion. Musa Hakim Jr., a 26-year-old startup founder in Akron, Ohio, says tools like TurboTax and Credit Karma helped him manage his money early.
"Seeing everything laid out -- my credit utilization, my income, what was helping or hurting my score -- changed how I made decisions," Hakim says. "I built my credit into the mid-700s by my early twenties [via Credit Karma], and that's what let me start a business."
For him, AI-powered tools feel like an upgrade -- not because they replace judgment, but because they point out information he might have missed. "If you can see it clearly, you can track it. And if you can track it, you can make better choices," he says.
Intuit says its new "all-in" platform also means that people can file taxes directly through the Credit Karma app this year, then have its AI help track their refunds and provide guidance to maximize their savings throughout the year.
Barbara Camara, a 28-year-old performer and project coordinator in New York City, who works across multiple states, is a bit more skeptical overall.
She says she likes TurboTax because it's simple -- "the Mac of tax software," she jokes -- until her situation stops being yes-or-no. When she hit questions about freelance income, she admitted she turned to ChatGPT last year instead of paying for expert help.
Then she caught errors.
"I've seen [ChatGPT] give blatantly incorrect information," she said. "That's why I don't trust AI alone for taxes." Though she agrees Intuit's promise of "AI + human" offerings, alongside tighter guardrails like bank-level encryption and security -- helps.
Asking the right questions
Delicia Reynolds Hand, senior director of digital marketplaces at Consumer Reports, says the biggest risk isn't that AI exists in tax tools -- it's that people don't know when they're relying on it.
"Right now, people can't easily tell when AI is driving an answer versus when a human expert is involved -- or how quickly they can get a human if something feels off," Hand says. "That lack of transparency matters when you're making high-stakes financial decisions."
She also urges people to think carefully about data. Uploading W-2s, 1099s, and banking information may feel routine -- but it creates a detailed financial record that deserves scrutiny.
"People should ask: What data am I sharing? Who can access it? And do I have a clear paper trail of the advice I'm being given?" she says. "AI doesn't carry legal responsibility -- you do."
Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech columnist and host of Techishly Jenn. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. Contact her via Techish.com or @JennJolly on Instagram.
