Every tax season, we hear the same question from new clients: “Can’t I just use AI to do this?”
It’s a fair question. AI tools have become more powerful, more accessible, and more convincing. The idea of filing your taxes in minutes—for little to no cost—is understandably appealing.
But after a full year of real-world use, the enthusiasm is starting to cool.
A February 2026 survey conducted for Invoice Home—and covered by the Journal of Accountancy and Accounting Today—shows that trust in AI for tax filing dropped from 43% in 2025 to 37% in 2026. That’s not a small dip. It’s a meaningful shift in a short period of time.
What’s more telling is that this decline isn’t isolated to one demographic. Every generation reported less comfort relying on AI for taxes:
- Gen Z: 49% → 46%
- Millennials: 54% → 50%
- Gen X: 43% → 40%
- Baby Boomers: 25% → 24%
- Silent Generation: 18% → 15%
Even the most tech-savvy groups—those you’d expect to lean into AI—are stepping back.
There’s a reason for that.
The same survey found that only 42% of taxpayers feel confident they’ll file their taxes correctly. Among Gen Z and Millennials, that number drops even further. And yet, these are the same groups most likely to experiment with AI tools.
That disconnect matters. If confidence is low, switching to a faster tool doesn’t solve the problem—it just accelerates uncertainty.
And that’s exactly what many taxpayers are beginning to realize.