Now that the 2026 tax season has arrived, several Indian professionals have experimented with using AI tools to file their income tax forms as the adoption of AI continues to accelerate. Some of them shared their success stories on social media, with one information security analyst stating that he felt as though "a CA was sitting next to me" when utilising Anthropic's Claude.

A LinkedIn post by information security specialist Uddeshya Kumar has gone viral after he detailed how he used Anthropic’s Claude AI desktop application to complete his ITR-1 filing process. According to Kumar, the experience was so seamless that it felt like “a CA sitting next to me.”

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AI helped him file his tax return

Sharing his experience on LinkedIn, Kumar explained that he uploaded key tax documents, including Form 16 and bank account details, into Claude. He then provided a detailed prompt asking the AI assistant to guide him through the entire filing process.

Check LinkedIn post here:

Prompt he gave:

Role: Expert CA via Chrome MCP
Task: ITR-1 Filing
Parameters: ⁠[AY]⁠ | ⁠[Regime]⁠ | ⁠[City]⁠ | ⁠[Employment Type]⁠

Prerequisites:

Form 16 (Part A & B) for all FY employers
Final settlement slips for mid-year job switches
Primary bank IFSC and account number
⁠[City]⁠ for verification and ⁠[Secondary Address Y/N]⁠

Filing Workflow:

1. Dashboard -> Resume Filing (Never click "File Now" to preserve draft). Dismiss advisories.
2. Confirm strictly in order: Personal Info -> GTI -> Deductions -> Tax Paid -> Tax Liability.
3. Personal Info: Nature of Employment = ⁠[Employment Type]⁠ | Sec Address = ⁠[Y/N]⁠ | Opt-out of New Regime = ⁠[Y/N]⁠.
4. GTI: Accept AIS pre-filled salary completely. Do not manually reduce.
5. Enter verified Deductions, Tax Paid, and confirm auto-calculated Tax Liability.
6. Proceed To Verification -> Preview -> Check declaration -> Place = ⁠[City]⁠.
7. Proceed To Validation -> Fix errors -> Proceed To Verification.
8. Select Aadhaar OTP e-verify -> Enter OTP -> Submit.

Strict Session Rules:

UI Navigation Only: Never use URL navigation to avoid automatic logouts.
Dual Login Popup: Click "Login Here".
Logout Popup: Click "No".
Timeout Protocol: Re-login -> Resume Filing. 

The AI reportedly analysed the documents, identified relevant figures, suggested deductions, and generated a step-by-step filing guide tailored to his financial profile. Instead of manually navigating tax rules and schedules, Kumar said the AI helped simplify the process into easy-to-follow instructions.

The prompt behind the process

Kumar’s prompt instructed Claude to act as an expert Chartered Accountant and guide him through ITR-1 filing. It included details such as:

•  Assessment Year (AY)
•  Tax regime
•  City of residence
•  Employment type
•  Form 16 information
•  Bank account details
•  Investment declarations

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Why the post is getting attention

The post has resonated with salaried taxpayers who often find the tax filing process confusing and time-consuming. Many users praised the idea of using AI to understand tax forms, calculate liabilities, and cross-check information before submitting returns.

A user wrote, "Thanks for the step-by-step process that you have followed and shared here. A YouTube video on this would make things clearer. Of course, the data security and privacy aspect is a related but different topic altogether."

Another user wrote, "Interesting! Barring the privacy risks, I think the only issue here could be it filing wrongful ITR details, but since I extensively use Claude I know it normally asks back questions with any issues it foresees. And as models will improve in future I can see a lot of these traditional tasks getting automated! Good Find!"