Tax season is so stressful that it’s driving some people to therapy. A new survey suggests a big part of the problem is the complexity of filing taxes.
For years, tax software companies and the IRS have tried hard to make the filing process simpler, offering innovations like free filing, user-friendly online platforms, and mobile filing apps. But more than half of all Americans are still not confident in their ability to file taxes.
In fact, only 2 in 5 Americans are confident about their tax filing game, according to a new survey from Invoice Home. The accounting software company surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults, and is sharing their research exclusively with Fortune. Nearly 43% of respondents say they would trust artificial intelligence for help more than tax professionals like CPAs.
While the continued digitization of tax season is not necessarily a bad thing, says Petr Marek, CEO and co-founder of Invoice Home, it’s indicative of how social media and the attention economy are affecting people’s behavior of even mundane tasks like filing taxes.
“It is harder to do something like tax filing because it's something distracting from the other things they are doing,” he says.
Learn more: 70% of Americans can file their taxes for free using IRS Free File.
The attention economy’s role in taxes
Tax season is one of the only times of the year when most adults have to sit down, possibly for hours at a time, and have a serious look at their financial situation from the previous year.
This can include the accumulation of forms like W2, 1099, and 1040 forms—plus any eligible recipes or other supporting documents. If there’s a more complicated situation like a change in address, marital status, or tax credit eligibility, households could be looking at hours of work. And that’s not even considering the work small business owners have to go through.
At a time when more and more stimuli are fighting for our attention—only 1 in 5 workers say they can go a full hour without getting distracted, for example—completing taxes and personal finances can become a more challenging mental task, especially if you don’t expect to get a tax refund.
For this reason, Marek says many filers try to get it completed sooner rather than later. “People want to get rid of it much quicker and faster than it used to be in the past,” says Marek. The survey found that more than half of the consumers who file their own taxes (51%) do so as soon as they receive a W-2.
However, contrary to advice to file sooner rather than later, filing too early can be nearly as damaging as doing it too late. The IRS notes that filing before all the proper tax documents are received is a common way mistakes are made on tax forms—and often leads to processing delays.
AI’s role in the future of tax preparation
Members of Gen Z and Millennials are among the most likely to trust AI to help file their taxes over an accountant. However, at the same time, about 43% of Gen Xers and 25% of Baby Boomers—who grew up using the paper filing system—also gave a vote of confidence to the technology.
The reason likely comes down to two factors: ease and cost. The price of seeking advice from a tax professional can be hundreds of dollars, and a rising shortage of accountants is only increasing the demand—and likely the rates—of stretched-thin tax workers.
While new customers may be placed on weeks-long waitlists, AI can provide comprehensive tax advice in a matter of seconds. Many of the free LLM versions, like ChatGPT-4o, can walk filers through some of the best practices when it comes to tax season. However, the platform often suggests users utilize tax software companies like TurboTax and H&R Block to complete their filing.
These companies, too, have integrated AI-powered chat assistants into their platforms—Intuit Assist and AI Tax Assist, respectively—but their scope remains fairly limited.
Andrew Lo, the director of the laboratory for financial engineering at the MIT Sloan School of Management, told Fortune that it could be dangerous to seek legal or financial advice from AI due to a lack of domain-specific expertise, trustworthiness, and regulatory knowledge.
And when it comes to filing taxes, there isn’t too much room for error. Mistakes can have long-term impacts. Not only can individuals face a financial penalty or even jail time, but also making a mistake one year might lead to an increased likelihood of being audited in the future.
Providing AI with all of your financial history can also be concerning from a data security perspective, as it may be unclear how your data is being stored or used to train the chatbot.
“If you have a good income—if you don't have enough time to manage your customers—and you can earn more when you save the time, maybe it's better to have a CPA to do your books,” Marek says.
Moving forward, it’s only expected that tax filers will rely more on technology to quickly and effectively send their report to the IRS. Online digital tools or resources will be invested in by 16% of respondents, and 11% will invest in accounting software.
More on taxes:
- Tax season has begun. Here’s how to file taxes online and make it as painless as possible
- IRS extends tax deadline for those affected by California wildfires
- The mortgage interest deduction could save you thousands on your taxes. Here’s how to know if it’s right for you.
