AI exposure: Tax Preparers
Prepare tax returns for individuals or small businesses.
Reading this score
computed52.2% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Tax Preparers at the 90th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 3.4 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 12 tasks it averages 1.88 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.
The most exposed thing this job does is Schedule appointments with clients, at 93.3%. The least is Interview clients to obtain additional information on taxable income and deductible expenses..., at 26.7%. A gap of 66.7% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within business and financial operations occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 48 roles in the group is 47.1%, and only 15 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 12 tasks, 11 are currently banded exposed, 1 assisted and 0 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take a change in who is permitted to sign the work, which is a question for regulators rather than for engineers. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
12 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schedule appointments with clients. | 93.3% | 6.7% | 0.0% | 3.75 | exposed |
| Check data input or verify totals on forms prepared by others to detect errors in arithmetic, data entry, or procedures. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.37 | exposed |
| Compute taxes owed or overpaid, using adding machines or personal computers, and complete entries on forms, following tax form instructions and tax tables. | 60.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 4.75 | exposed |
| Use all appropriate adjustments, deductions, and credits to keep clients' taxes to a minimum. | 60.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 4.71 | exposed |
| Prepare or assist in preparing simple to complex tax returns for individuals or small businesses. | 60.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 4.50 | exposed |
| Calculate form preparation fees according to return complexity and processing time required. | 60.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 4.05 | exposed |
| Answer questions and provide future tax planning to clients. | 46.7% | 40.8% | 12.5% | 4.20 | exposed |
| Review financial records, such as income statements and documentation of expenditures to determine forms needed to prepare tax returns. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.45 | exposed |
| Explain federal and state tax laws to individuals and companies. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.21 | exposed |
| Consult tax law handbooks or bulletins to determine procedures for preparation of atypical returns. | 36.7% | 13.3% | 50.0% | 4.20 | exposed |
| Furnish taxpayers with sufficient information and advice to ensure correct tax form completion. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 4.57 | assisted |
| Interview clients to obtain additional information on taxable income and deductible expenses and allowances. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.57 | exposed |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 3.38 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.08 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.46 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.58 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.88 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.67 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.