The days of the quintessential taxman, like the meticulous, trench-coat-wearing auditor Will Ferrell played in Stranger Than Fiction, may be gone. Now, the agent scouring your returns for tax mistakes may be AI.
“[The IRS] is using AI to identify targets for who’s going to be audited,” Rob Kovacev, a tax lawyer at Miller & Chevalier, told Inc. “They’re doing that at all levels, for everything—from small businesses and individuals across the board.”
The IRS hasn’t explicitly outlined every way it uses AI. Historically, the agency has kept its audit-selection formula close to the vest. However, public records still offer a partial picture. According to a March 2026 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the agency’s AI inventory grew from just 10 use cases in 2022 to 126 by mid-2025, including 65 classified as too sensitive for public disclosure.