1. found errors, e.g. where I used the incorrect exchange rate (and managed to work out how I had made that error, which I was impressed by)
2. found items which would appear to be errors except for context it did not know
3. flagged areas where it disagreed with me as to the correct tax treatment, but accepted that the law is ambiguous (and in some cases I preferred its interpretation after additional research and in other cases I did not)
4. flagged areas where it disagreed with IRS guidance, and only acknowledged said guidance after I provided links to it
5. provided highly inaccurate estimated tax calculations, and not been able to fix its estimates even when challenged
So my takeaway is that it is a very useful tool for tax, but perhaps unsurprisingly, it is not good enough to dump all your paperwork into and expect a shiny return you don't need to check. (Possibly it is if you just have a W-2 and no other substantial income, but I can't speak for that scenario.)
I think what helped is giving it 100+ pdf and csv documents of my full situation so it knew everything about me and could cross-reference with all my bank statements.
I no longer do consulting on the side so I just use online tax software. It is about $150 but I do that more out of laziness as it integrates with my brokerage and payroll company to import everything automatically. Also I have carry forward losses and such that it already knows about.
Most people’s taxes are simpler than mine but I am sure there are lots of folks here with much more complex tax situations
I have foreign income and foreign businesses, my partner has foreign income from two countries. The tax law is then based on tax treaties, most tax preparers do not have sufficient knowledge to complete a return, and tax software doesn't handle these cases.
The tax treaties are not clear, tax professionals will disagree on interpretation, and tax benefits in one country will not apply to another.
Then there is a thing called AMT, alternative minimum tax, which is a second way to calculate your taxes that you need to submit as well.
Same situation as you. I have a local accountant in the country I'm in plus my US accountant. Claude/ChatGPT have been a huge help for checking, explaining, and finding issues. They also found websites with pertinent information that Google did not, which surprised me.
I had it prepare an analysis and then found a professional to confirm everything and then handle doing the amendment.
Definitely useful as a second pair of eyes.
Try this, it uses a tax engine as the backbone and provides feedback for Claude if it goes off the rails. Albeit it doesn't support every tax scenario.
it's the most ai-native tax experience for US citizens abroad
(It would also help to know if you had a financial interest in or prior experience with this company)