Item id: 50004396
16 hours ago
I wouldn't trust any genAI system (that is available to me, anyway) to go anywhere near critical things, or anywhere near very personal information such as finances or health. I know I'm far from the only one who feels this way. Maybe there are enough people who feel similarly that it limits the size of the market for such a thing.
10 hours ago
I used Claude to automate my tax this year instead of my accountant and it was more accurate
3 hours ago
I still use a CPA but check his work using Claude. A CPA's mistake costs you less than your own LLM's mistake, because the CPA is liable for theirs.
19 hours ago
For starters, the average person doesn't use LLMs in any capacity beyond "ChatGPT" or whatever chatbot interface they happen to have latched on to.
I don't know the financial penalties of a faulty Tax filing in America since this is just done automatically for individuals in Sweden by our IRS-equivalent. But I assume this is something you don't want to mess up. If so, apply an general stochasticity argument for why AI isn't end-to-end responsible for much at all where details and correctness really matters.
6 hours ago
This is a common misconception. The IRS is generally reasonable. They will send you notices about mistakes on your tax forms. I think it's the tax filing industry that perpetuates the myth that making mistakes on your tax form can lead to you going to jail.
Having said that, I used Claude to do my taxes this year. I generally use the free fillable forms provided by the IRS so I don't use a program that tries to abstract it all away. It was much easier to do with Claude than manually this year.
19 hours ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_Direct_File
You are trying to solve a politics and people problem with non deterministic, unnecessary technology.
“Why does the system insist on inefficiency to suck $80B/year out of taxpayer pockets?” is easy to answer. That is the purpose, by design.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_wha...
If we want better outcomes and systems, we need to elect better people. It’s that simple. Better luck next time.
https://fedscoop.com/democrats-bill-would-bring-irs-direct-f...
https://www.warren.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/media/doc/b...
9 hours ago
> You are trying to solve a politics and people problem with non deterministic, unnecessary technology.
But blockchain will solve political corruption
18 hours ago
> You are trying to solve a politics and people problem with non deterministic, unnecessary technology.
Exactly this.
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107611
During fiscal year 2024, IRS spent about $1.5 billion to modernize systems that handle some of its most critical taxpayer services and business functions.
...
In March 2025, IRS paused these programs to reevaluate priorities and start new IT modernization efforts.
This pattern has been repeating for decades.
Spend billions. Throw results in trash. Repeat.
Also, lets not forget, 99% of the IRS could be abolished with a simplified tax code and process, and the reason that doesn't happen, is because then 99% of grift would stop as well.
If government is the wizard of oz, the tax code are the levers behind the curtain that get pulled to modify the publics behavior.
If private companies are handling electronic filings, that private sector activity is taxable. Its an asset to the IRS. If the IRS is doing it internally, its a liability and an expense.
10 hours ago
The pattern doesn't hold. In 2021, they spent ~230 million. 2010 to 2021, they spent between 260 to 320 million per year.
The only reason that billions are being spent today is that in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), granted $80 billion mandatory spending boost for the next 10 years in order to modernize tech for the first time in 60 years.
The goal was that if they could identify people who were underpaying on taxes, they'd be able to recoup that benefit, and at the same time reduce inflation. This is a strategy that China has taken, and is currently using to great effect by identifying off-shore tax shelters and shadow companies that benefit the ultra-rich then taxing them as they always should have been.
As for the US, all seemed to be going well until Doge stepped in and began to claw back funding, so the IRS was forced to change its initiatives to fit the current administrations theme.
I doubt we'll be seeing any tax shelters unveiled soon.
17 hours ago
Yes, I said it.
Your work, your transactions, your expenses in complying with the law, your penalties for non-compliance, your headaches and suffering, etc, etc etc.
These are all assets to the IRS. You serve them.
18 hours ago
I assume this is something you don't want to mess up.
6 hours ago
Why do you assume so?
19 hours ago
Can you be more specific on how you expect AI to do this?
If you’re thinking by an independent, motivated do-gooder, TurboTax costs around $100 for most people, and few people are going to use some untested solution to save that small amount of money, vs. the scare of being fully liable for one’s own tax mistakes. FreeTaxUSA is even cheaper.