--- title: "TurboTax Adds AI That Gives Horribly Wrong Answers to Tax Questions" description: "Tax season is upon us, and so too is the onslaught of bad financial advice — which now can be automated with AI!" date: "2024-03-04" modified: "2024-03-04" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/turbotax-hrblock-ai-chatbots" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai chatbots" - "irs" - "taxes" - "the digest" --- # TurboTax Adds AI That Gives Horribly Wrong Answers to Tax Questions ![Tax season is upon us, and so too is the onslaught of bad financial advice — which now can be automated with AI!]() *\Image: Kimberly White for TurboTax via Getty / Futurism\* ## Wrong Again Tax season is upon us, and so too is the onslaught of [bad financial advice]() — which now can be automated with AI! As the [*Washington Post* reports](), both TurboTax and H&R Block have hopped into the generative AI game with chatbots that are theoretically supposed to help people answer difficult tax questions. Put to the test, however, the bots weren't up to snuff, and in some cases even gave "advice" that could result in a freakin' IRS audit. When *WaPo*'s Geoffrey Fowler asked TurboTax's "Intuit Assist" chatbot where his kid should file taxes if they attend college out of state, it responded with completely irrelevant answers about credits and extensions. H&R Block's version, called "AI Tax Assist," claimed incorrectly that the college student should file in both states when they should only file in the state where they earned income. What's worse, when the reporter asked the H&R Block tax bot about whether a filer has to report a specific type of cryptocurrency transaction known as a "wash sale" that ultimately nets the buyer zero, the chatbot claimed that the IRS had not yet offered any guidance. That's just plain wrong, Fowler writes: the agency *has* stated that its crypto [wash sale rules don't apply]() to taxes, meaning it's not necessary to report them when filing. Overall, the bots were wrong a shockingly high percentage of the time: TurboTax's got more than half of the questions the reporter asked it wrong, and H&R Block's gave incorrect answers to 30 percent of the questions posed to it. ## Work in Progress To figure out just how bad the situation was, *WaPo* spoke to tax consultants from the wealth management firm EP Wealth Advisors — and those experts were, to put it mildly, smug. "I feel that my job as a tax professional is very secure," quipped Beverly Goodman, one of the firm's tax managers, when interviewed about the tax software's crummy AI advice. When the companies in question were reached for comment, meanwhile, they appeared to work at fixing the chatbots' answers — but as Fowler points out, both AI tax assistants still spat out wrong or irrelevant information after their respective patches. "Is it perfect, no," an H&R Block spokesperson told the reporter. "Will it ever be, probably not. Mainly because we have a very complicated taxation system with ambiguous wording." As with everything else AI, both H&R Block and TurboTax also offered [fine print disclaimers]() underneath their chatbots warning people that their answers might be wrong — which kinda defeats the whole purpose, right? **More on bad AI advice:** [*Microsoft Copilot Tells User Suicide Is an Option*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()