With tax season in full swing, many filers are taking advantage free tax preparation services, yet these platforms may not offer all the help you need. Dan Geltrude, managing partner at Geltrude & Company, joined The Street to explain why individuals might opt for their own accountant over relying on free tax softwares.
Full Video Transcript Below:
J.D. DURKIN: Talk to me about when someone needs to get their own accountant versus using something like, let's say, free tax softwares.
DAN GELTRUDE: Well, you know, those tax softwares are out there and they're good if you know what you're doing. But listen, the tax laws are complex and it really behooves people to at least take a look at saying who out there can I get to file my, or prepare my tax return and file it for me at a reasonable price? And I think that people, when they get a reputable tax preparer, do end up getting a good return on their investment. I mean, you wouldn't do surgery on yourself, so why would you file your own tax return?
J.D. DURKIN: I certainly would not do surgery on myself. Final question for you here my friend. Turbotax, H&R Block, they've both added AI chat bots to answer tax questions from customers this year. Is this the sort of thing that you would recommend for a filer to use an AI service?
DAN GELTRUDE: Well, you know, AI is here to stay and it's only going to become more and more advanced. So is AI perfect? No, it's not. So anytime you're asking questions to a bot through AI, you have to be careful about whether that information is correct. But overall, is it is it the direction of the future? Yeah, it is. And should you consider using it if you're comfortable? Yes, you should.
