AI for your role

AI for Tax Managers

Spend less time on the busywork and more on the calls that need your judgment.

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The shift

How AI is changing the Tax Manager role

In 2026, AI is handling the first pass on tax research, drafting client memos, and reconciling source documents against returns. Tax Managers are using it to summarize new IRS guidance and state law changes, prepare provision workpapers, and catch inconsistencies before review. The role is shifting toward reviewing AI output and advising clients rather than building every workpaper from scratch.

What AI can take off your plate

  • First-pass tax research and pulling relevant code sections and rulings
  • Drafting client emails, engagement updates, and memo first drafts
  • Reconciling source documents like K-1s and 1099s against return entries
  • Summarizing lengthy IRS notices and state legislative changes
  • Building and checking workpaper formulas and tie-outs

What stays distinctly human

  • Signing off on tax positions and accepting professional responsibility
  • Advising clients on judgment calls where the law is unclear
  • Managing client relationships and difficult conversations about exposure
  • Reviewing AI output for accuracy before anything is filed or sent
  • Mentoring and training staff on technical and ethical standards
Tools

Five AI tools for Tax Managers

Thomson Reuters CoCounsel
A Tax Manager uses it to research tax questions across primary sources and get cited answers on issues like nexus or deductibility.
Blue J Tax
Predicts likely outcomes on uncertain tax positions and helps a Tax Manager support a position with relevant case law and rulings.
ChatGPT
Drafts client emails, summarizes long IRS notices, and explains complex provisions in plain language for staff and clients.
Microsoft Copilot
Inside Excel and Outlook, it builds workpaper formulas, summarizes email threads, and drafts responses for a Tax Manager's review.
Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Edge
Searches tax research content with AI assistance so a Tax Manager finds the relevant code section, regulation, or guidance faster.
Prompts

Five prompts to try today

Paste these into Claude or ChatGPT and replace the bracketed parts with your own details.

1. Summarize new guidance
Summarize the key changes in [IRS notice or state bulletin] and list which of my clients in [industry or entity type] are most likely affected and why.
2. Explain a position to a client
Explain the tax treatment of [transaction or item] in plain language for a [client type] client who is not a tax professional. Keep it under 200 words and note any risks.
3. Build a review checklist
Create a review checklist for a [entity type] federal return covering common errors in [areas like depreciation, M-1 adjustments, state apportionment].
4. Draft a research memo outline
Outline a tax research memo on whether [specific expense or transaction] is deductible for [entity type]. Include issue, facts, authorities to check, analysis, and conclusion sections.
5. Compare entity options
Compare the tax implications of operating as an S corp versus a partnership for a business with [revenue, owner count, state] and summarize the trade-offs in a table.

A day in your inbox

This is the kind of brief a Tax Manager gets, every weekday morning.
Weekday morning
✦ Personalized for: Tax Manager
Today's Tool
Using CoCounsel for a research question
A client asks whether a recent equipment purchase qualifies for bonus depreciation under current rules. Ask CoCounsel to research the question and return the relevant code sections and IRS guidance with citations you can verify.
Today's Prompt
Turn the research into a client answer
Paste the research result and prompt: Explain whether the equipment purchase in [facts] qualifies for bonus depreciation, in plain language for the client, and note any documentation they need to keep.
Today's Trick
Always verify the citations
AI can cite a code section that does not say what it claims, so open every authority and confirm it before relying on it. Treat AI output as a starting draft, never as a filed position.

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