Can your tax preparer use AI without telling you? Some experts say IRS rules aren't clear

Cnbc · Aug 04, 2026 · 1059 words · By Sarah Agostino

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What to know about Can your tax preparer use AI without telling you? Some experts say IRS rules aren't clear

Like many other industries, tax firms and accountants are incorporating artificial intelligence more heavily into their workflows.

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

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Center88%

Right12%

8 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Like many other industries, tax firms and accountants are incorporating artificial intelligence more heavily into their workflows.

Why it matters

But as adoption grows, some experts say IRS privacy rules haven't kept pace — making it worthwhile for consumers to ask how their tax preparer uses AI.

Common ground

In June, the IRS released its first AI-related guidance for tax practitioners, including requirements that they review and verify AI-generated work and that billing should reflect efficiencies gained through AI.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Can your tax preparer use AI without telling you? Some experts say IRS rules aren't clear?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The report also shows that 44% of respondents use AI for advisory projects, 40% for tax planning, 39% for compliance research, 36% for document analysis and 35% for drafting?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/04/ai-tax-preparers.html

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 3

info Single Source 3

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified Verified By Reference 1

verified Verified 1

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Claim 1: “The report also shows that 44% of respondents use AI for advisory projects, 40% for tax planning, 39% for compliance research, 36% for document analysis and 35% for drafting.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results from 'TheStreet' and other sources confirm the specific percentages: 39% for compliance research and 36% for document analysis, as well as general use for research, planning, and advisory.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Ohio House of Representatives election will be held on November 3, 2026, alongside the other 2026 United States elections. Voters will elect members of the Ohio House of Representatives in al…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Ohio_House_of_Representat…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Benjamin Alarie (born October 27,1977) is a Canadian legal scholar and entrepreneur. He is a co-founder and CEO of Blue J, a company that develops artificial intelligence tools for tax research. Alari…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Alarie

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), or the Big Beautiful Bill (P.L. 119-21), is a U.S. federal statute passed by the 119th United States Congress containing tax and spending policies that form the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Big_Beautiful_Bill_Act

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “The penalties for knowingly violating the statute include a fine of up to $1,000 or jail time of up to one year, or both.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that violating Section 7216 is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $1,000, up to one year in prison, or both.

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web search NEUTRAL — Internal Revenue Code § 7216 is a criminal provision enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1971 that, except as provided in regulations, prohibits tax return preparers from knowingly or recklessly disclosin…
https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/irc-section-7216-que…

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web search NEUTRAL — The penalty for violating section 6713 is $250 for each prohibited disclosure or use, not to exceed a total of $10,000 for a calendar year. Section 6713(b) provides that the exceptions in section 7216…
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-F…

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web search NEUTRAL — Because it carries criminal weight, a violation is a misdemeanor that brings a fine of up to 1,000 dollars, up to one year in prison, or both, plus prosecution costs. Section 6713 adds civil penalties…
https://madrasaccountancy.com/blog-posts/section-7216-consen…

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Claim 3: “the last formal guidance we've received from the IRS goes back to 2013”

SINGLE SOURCE

One web search result explicitly states that Section 7216 'hasn't had formal guidance since 2013'.

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web search NEUTRAL — Section 7216 of the Internal Revenue Code, which governs tax data privacy, hasn't had formal guidance since 2013. AICPA and other experts suggest practitioners obtain signed client consent until clear…
https://azat.tv/en/irs-ai-disclosure-standards-analysis/

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web search NEUTRAL — Find information about Section 7216 including FAQs and revenue rulings.
https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/section-7216-informati…

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web search NEUTRAL — IRC §7216 does not prohibit AI. It prohibits disclosure. Entering client tax return information into a third-party AI tool is likely a disclosure under the statute's regulations, and no IRS guidance c…
https://www.deepvine.ai/blog/irc-7216-ai-tools-cpa-consent/

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Claim 4: “For non-individual tax returns, tax preparers can include 7216 disclosures in their engagement letter, or memorandum of understanding, that they provide to clients... For individual returns, however, a 7216 disclosure must be a separate document.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided or found in the search results regarding the specific documentation requirements for individual vs. non-individual tax returns under Section 7216.

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Claim 5: “In June, the IRS released its first AI-related guidance for tax practitioners, including requirements that they review and verify AI-generated work and that billing should reflect efficiencies gained through AI.”

SINGLE SOURCE

One web search result mentions 'The IRS's first AI guidance for tax preparers' and notes a gap regarding client disclosure, but the provided evidence does not explicitly detail the specific requirements regarding 'review and verify AI-generated work' or 'billing efficiencies'.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An AI agent is an artificial intelligence system that can pursue goals, use software or other tools, and take actions with some level of autonomy. Agentic AI is a related and inconsistently defined te…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_agent

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was a United States federal initiative launched by the second Trump administration. It was first suggested to Donald Trump by Elon Musk in 2024, establis…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Government_Effic…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Meta Platforms, Inc. (doing business as Meta) is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Meta owns and operates several prominent social media platforms a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Platforms

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “In the AICPA's 2026 response to the IRS' annual request for input on which tax issues should be prioritized in the next year, the group asked for additional guidance related to the use of technology — including AI — in tax preparation.”

SINGLE SOURCE

One web search result confirms that the AICPA included a request for updated technology-related guidance in its 2026 response to the IRS's annual tax priority list.

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web search NEUTRAL — The AICPA included a request for updated technology-related guidance in its 2026 response to the IRS’s annual tax priority list.Henry Grzes, lead manager for tax practice and ethics at the American In…
https://www.madmadnews.com/success/irs-rules-may-fail-to-pro…

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web search NEUTRAL — As the IRS plans to prioritize providing additional guidance as stated in the IRS Strategic Operating Plan, the AICPA encourages the IRS to issue guidance on recommended areas. Tax Advocacy and Tax Re…
https://www.aicpa-cima.com/search?type=press-release&content…

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web search NEUTRAL — AICPA advocacy affected tax regulatory guidance. As mentioned above, the AICPA provided significant input and comments to the IRS and on needed guidance. We were pleased that in 2025, Treasury and IRS…
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2026/jan/aicpa-tax…

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Claim 7: “A majority — 60% — use AI for tax research at least weekly, up from 33% in 2025, according to the report, which is based on a survey of more than 1,000 tax professionals.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web search results confirm that weekly AI use for tax research jumped from 33% to 60% based on a Blue J and CPA.com survey.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “A 2024 report from the Thomson Reuters Institute, based on a survey of 330 tax and accounting firm professionals, found that about 25% of respondents reported using public-facing, open-source generative AI tools in their work, and just 9% had used proprietary tax-specific generative AI technology.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of general Wikipedia entries for the year 2024 and does not contain any information regarding a Thomson Reuters Institute survey of tax professionals.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Annals of Mathematics is a mathematical journal published every two months by Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annals_of_Mathematics

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — EndNote is a commercial reference management software package, used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays, reports and articles. EndNote was written by Richard Niles, and owners…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EndNote

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Zimbabwean dollar (sign: Z$; code: ZWL), also known as the Zimdollar or Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) dollar, was the currency of Zimbabwe from February 2019 to April 2024. It was the only leg…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_dollar_(2019–2024)

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Claim 9: “Protecting taxpayers' privacy is governed by Section 7216 of the Internal Revenue Code, which says tax preparers generally cannot share or use a taxpayer's information for purposes other than preparing the return.”

VERIFIED

Multiple authoritative sources (IRS Section 7216 Explained, IRC Section 7216 Q&A) confirm that Section 7216 is a criminal statute prohibiting tax return preparers from disclosing or using tax return information without prior written consent.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Accountant–client privilege is a confidentiality privilege, or more precisely, a group of privileges, available in American federal and state law. Accountant–client privileges may be classified in two…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accountant–client_privilege

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor to the trijet 727, received its first orders in August 197…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_757

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The president of the United States may take any of several kinds of executive actions. Executive orders are issued to help officers and agencies of the executive branch manage the operations within …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_executive_actions_by_F…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.