With the tax filing deadline quickly approaching, you may have some last-minute, burning questions that need to be answered.
Luckily, there’s a new online tool that can help you do that without having to take hours to sift through the government’s site.
TaxGPT was launched by Ottawa-based web developer Paul Craig in March. Aptly described as “Canada’s AI tax advisor,” the chatbot uses AI to generate answers to any questions you may have about filing your taxes based on public information from the Canada Revenue Agency.
“It uses the ChatGPT’s AI model to return information about Canada’s tax system, and is intended for a beginner audience,” reads the site. “The intent is to provide a friendly and approachable way to start learning about taxes, not to solve for complex scenarios.”
🤓 New! https://t.co/qZ6zBYrkzq: Canada’s AI tax advisor 🤓
Today I am launching the new and improved #TaxGPT, updated for 2024.
Try it out at https://t.co/KoGejZjHsr!
— Paul Craig (@pcraig3) March 28, 2024
So, how does it work?
It’s simple. You ask a question, TaxGPT searches for the relevant information in its knowledge base, and it reads that information and uses it to answer you. The chatbot will also share links to the CRA pages it thinks are most relevant.
The site notes that the tool is not a tax calculator or a professional tax advisor.
“It can’t accurately calculate taxes owed for specific income amounts, and it can’t reliably make specific recommendations for your scenario,” reads the FAQ.
So, in order to get the best answers, TaxGPT advises you to avoid questions that:
- Include personal information (e.g., your name or contact information)
- Ask for calculations about specific income amounts
- Describe complex tax scenarios (e.g., questions related to business income)
To test out the chatbox, we asked it how to deduct work-from-home expenses.
It gave a short, easy-to-understand explanation about the steps you need to take to deduct those expenses. TaxGPT also provided helpful links to the CRA and Wealthsimple.
Here’s another example asking how you can deduct medical expenses on your tax return.
If you’re concerned that this may be a scam, Craig jokingly assures that it isn’t.
“Nope, not a scam. If TaxGPT was a scam, it would ask you for personal/financial details, like your home address or banking information,” reads the site. “On the other hand, if this was a scam, it would definitely claim not to be a scam. (Not a scam though, to be clear.)”
Give the tool a try here. Hopefully this helps you finish filing your taxes!