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With about six weeks until the April 15 tax deadline, some filers are turning to artificial intelligence chatbots for help with returns. But tax experts urge filers to use caution.
"Grok can help with your taxes," Elon Musk said in an X post on Tuesday. Developed by Musk's startup xAI, Grok is a generative AI chatbot that has been integrated with X.
Musk's message quoted another X post from xAI's James Burnham, which mentioned someone who Burnham said had used Grok to double-check tax returns and received a bigger refund.
"Disclaimer: This/Grok is not tax advice so always confirm yourself too," wrote Burnham, who works as general counsel for xAI and X.
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However, uncovering a bigger refund doesn't necessarily mean your return is correct, according to Tom O'Saben, director of tax content and government relations at the National Association of Tax Professionals.
You should always review previous years' returns to understand why refunds or balances due are different from year-to-year, said O'Saben, who is also an enrolled agent, which is a tax license to practice before the IRS.
This season, filers have multiple AI options to help with taxes, including tools like Grok, ChatGPT or Claude, as well as chatbots integrated in popular tax prep software platforms.
But taxes could be more complex this season amid the 2025 changes enacted via President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill," and some consumers are hesitant to use AI when filing returns.
In 2026, only 37% of filers said they would consider trusting AI over a tax professional, compared to 43% in 2025, according to a survey from software platform Invoice Home. The company polled roughly 2,000 filers in January.
What to know before using AI to file your taxes
Amid changing tax laws, it can be difficult to rely solely on AI for more complicated questions, according to tax experts.
"Each of the areas have some nuance," said certified public accountant Michael Deering, a partner and tax services leader at accounting firm Mowery and Schoenfeld.
For example, Trump's new tax breaks have phase-outs, which can reduce or eliminate the benefit, depending on your income.
Plus, it could be hard for AI to interpret how each tax break may impact the various parts of your return, Deering said.
Some tax professionals also have data privacy concerns.
O'Saben, with the National Association of Tax Professionals, uses AI to boost efficiency in his own tax practice. But he said he only recommends using the software for generic queries, without inputting personal data, such as your Social Security number and other sensitive information.
It's important that your return is accurate, whether you use AI or not.
"You're ultimately responsible for all of the entries on that return, and you sign a statement at the bottom" saying it's correct to the best of your knowledge, he said.
CNBC's Ryan Ermey contributed to the reporting for this story.
