H&R Block A I Tax Assist

[Lee B]

 

https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/newsroom/company-news/new-ai-tax-assist-diy/

We've been replaced

[Catherine]

4 minutes ago, Lee B said:

We've been replaced

Only until the notices come in!

[jklcpa]

I'd smile like this if my Robbie Robot could prepare the one I just finished and meet with the client too. 

 

[kathyc2]

I can see that becoming the future.  Younger people have grownup with computers and many are more comfortable with computers than people.

I don't advertise or actively seek new clients.  I don't think I have any clients under 35 that I don't also do the parents returns.  Many of them I started by doing returns when they were in school and part time jobs.  Majority of them want to converse remotely or via e-mail or text rather than in person or phone. 

I met with 2 of these "kids" yesterday.  One was definitely uncomfortable.  Another young lady was quite verbal and seemed very self-confident.  We actually got talking about this very issue.  She told me that she often has anxiety about making phone calls which was kind of surprising from the way she presents. 

I'm nearing the end of my career, so it doesn't effect me.  Preparers that are wanting/needing to attract younger clients may need to rethink the way they offer services to meet them where they are. 

[TexTaxToo]

Isaac Asimov envisioned this in a sci-fi novel in 1957.  From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_Sun

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Asimov portrays in The Naked Sun a world focused on avoiding physical contact with other people.

....

Face-to-face interaction (referred to in the book as "seeing") is seen as a repugnant chore. 

 

[mcbreck]

1 hour ago, kathyc2 said:

I can see that becoming the future. 

Agreed. Between AI, form readers like Gruntworx and offshoring, watch out. Imagine for a second, Quickbooks has your online software - what if they just offer to produce the tax return for you from the file? People use Gruntworx, that's going to be quaint 10 years out.

Things like Turbo Tax - you can download or upload into it your 1099s, W2s and even K-1s. What percentage of people is that good enough for a virtual automatic tax return prep? If you uploaded your Profit Loss / Balance Sheet / Cash Flow statements - a Schedule C is done in a few years.

 

[Terry D EA]

As far as I know, AI cannot filter and verify client documents uploaded. A 1099 or W-2 yes but business information? I  use Grun Wrox and am not sure but I thought it was only an optical scanner that organized data and created a .csv file or other file that is needed to populate the software. I always choose the option of human review. 

Can AI but the IRS police and ask all the questions and get an honest answer?

 

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[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

I'm glad that I'm heading out. One of my elderly clients wanted me to show her how to prepare hers online because she used to prepare hers by hand 40 years ago. She now has tons of investments and retirement income.

I should have taken some of your advice and bowed out earlier, but the new medical bills are piling up. Hubby is back in the hospital again and can't come home until they can get home oxygen here. Now we have to take our puppy down to K State, for a possible liver shunt. 

 

[Lee B]

NECPA, that is a heavy load that you are carrying.

I hope that you have family or close friends that can help you.

[joanmcq]

I'm glad I'm winding down. 

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

That's why we need to move to Colorado. Our son DIL are there to help us. My step-daughter came over today and cleaned and dusted since I don't have a robot that can dust or clean bathrooms yet. This was a first in 34 years and I was super grateful. I highly recommend RoboRocks! I had a Roomba and a separate mop before, but they are not nearly as advanced as the RoboRock. Hubby came home yesterday with 24-7 oxygen so now I have 50 feet of tubing running through the house. I have to find a way to get it off of the floor. This is a new phase for us, but we will figure it out. 

[mcbreck]

On 3/8/2024 at 11:26 PM, joanmcq said:

I'm glad I'm winding down. 

I'm at the age where every get together with friends includes a discussion of how long until we retire..... Oddly the closer I get the more stressed I am about it because it feels like this huge irreversible life decision. I've been asking people what they do all day in retirement just to get an idea of what's to come.

[Lee B]

That's why I am still working part time. I am still motivated to keep working with my business clients who I have known for 20 to 30 years.

It keeps my mind sharp and I still enjoy doing it. However if I was mostly preparing personal tax returns my answer would be different.

[joanmcq]

I'm doing the opposite; getting rid of my biz clients and just doing personal.  I've only enough clients to work very part time and one of my more complicated returns decided to go with someone in town.  Actually the partner that just inherited a bunch of money and rental properties decided to go elsewhere.  I was dealing with the partner that used to make all the money & had the complicated return.  We had a long conversation & I told him not to worry; I was trying to retire and doing so by attrition.  This season I'm only working a few hours a day.

[Sara EA]

The fatal problem with AI is that it doesn't know how to say, "I don't know" or "I'm not sure," or our favorite in the tax business, "It depends."  That inability is what gets it into trouble when it hallucinates, makes things up, gives irrelevant or wrong answers.

When I retire next year I'll just do the office's trusts and estates plus family returns.  That's enough.  Time to organize those old photos, revamp the gardens, read more books, explore more of the history and attractions of our new state, help out at the library that does so much in the community, just maybe volunteer for AARP or VITA, spend more time with friends and others I've met whom I'd like to know better.  It will be a relief to be free from so many commitments and deadlines.

[WITAXLADY]

but did you notice - no additional cost - so it still is not free to start with!

 

Does anyone want to file my easy ones that I am not going to review? Inputted by staff but I check everything and I am so far behind this year! more complicated ones and so many interruptions of everything else but taxes!

Considering how to get these filed?Best,

D/WI

 

[kathyc2]

On 3/12/2024 at 10:40 AM, mcbreck said:

Oddly the closer I get the more stressed I am about it because it feels like this huge irreversible life decision.

Not necessarily.  If you get bored I'm sure you could find a firm that would be thrilled to hire an experienced preparer.  You could work the hours you want and have someone else be in charge with the headaches it brings.

[mcbreck]

34 minutes ago, kathyc2 said:

Not necessarily.  If you get bored I'm sure you could find a firm that would be thrilled to hire an experienced preparer.  You could work the hours you want and have someone else be in charge with the headaches it brings.

Once my mind turns off - I'm not coming back.

[Christian]

Interesting to see so many of us are pulling the plug or like me signing off by reducing working hours ( no more morning work), dropping advertising commitments, and basically realizing that advancing age and increasing health problems are lowering the curtain on a business that has meant a great deal to us. I will miss it when I prepare the final return but think I can last awhile longer. For me it will be the closure of a profitable small home based business taken over from an Uncle who was an IRS agent some forty plus years back and the retirement of the last member of a family of entrepreneurs with a record of continuous service in  some form of business by a family member since the 1870s.  

[Randall]

On 3/8/2024 at 9:35 AM, TexTaxToo said:

Isaac Asimov envisioned this in a sci-fi novel in 1957.  From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_Sun

 

There's Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.  I think the computer on the moon running the mining operation 'comes alive' and takes over.  I like Kirk talking the computer into a loop and the computer burns itself out.  Where's Tron when you need him.

[Randall]

I've been winding down the past few years.  After April 15, I've been on slacker time.  I was trying to wind down during the busy season but it hasn't been working.  Only a month left.  But who's counting, besides me.