About & FAQ
On this page
Disclaimer
TaxGPT’s “ask a question” feature uses ChatGPT’s AI to return general information about Canada’s tax system, and is intended for a beginner audience. The intent is to provide a friendly and approachable way to start learning about taxes, not to solve for complex scenarios.
TaxGPT is not a tax calculator or a professional tax advisor: it can’t accurately calculate taxes owed for specific income amounts and it can’t reliably make specific recommendations for your scenario.
Avoid questions that:
- Include personal information (eg, your name or contact information)
- Ask for calculations about specific income amounts
- Describe complex tax scenarios (eg, questions related to business income)
The more complex your question is, the less likely you are to receive a relevant response.
Ultimately, you are using TaxGPT at your own risk.
Questions and responses are saved by Typebot and are used to improve the service, but they are anonymous and cannot be tied back to you in any way. Submissions that include personal data will be deleted.
About
TaxGPT is an AI tax chatbot who helps Canadians find free tax-filing options, and answers general questions about taxes. TaxGPT is under active development, so the question flow or the specific wording may change between releases.
TaxGPT is not sponsored by any company, it’s a 100% free service with no affiliations.
TaxGPT is also not a Government of Canada service. You can chat with Charlie the Chatbot on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website (bottom right), but he doesn’t know your basic personal amount for 2022 and he’s not very good with emojis.
The source code for TaxGPT.ca is on GitHub, and I used Typebot for the chatbot interaction, which I found to be excellent.
The Canadian maple leaf mascot is Tyler Benning’s.
Contact
If you spot an error, want to make a suggestion, or just want to give me a virtual high-five, please reach out to me at “paul [a] pcraig [dot] ca”.
I am kind of a one-person team over here, so there are likely some rough edges.
FAQ
If you have a question that’s not on here, get in touch with “paul [a] pcraig [dot] ca” and I might add it to the list.
Is TaxGPT a Government of Canada service?
Nope. If it was a government service, it would have a Canadian flag at the top of the page.
You can visit the Canada Revenue Agency’s website for comprehensive personal tax filing information.
Is TaxGPT a scam?
Nope, not a scam. If TaxGPT was a scam, it would ask for your specific personal/financial details, like your home address or banking information.
On the other hand, if this was a scam, it would definitely claim not to be a scam.
(Not a scam though, to be clear.)
Can I file taxes through TaxGPT?
No. You can browse the Canada Revenue Agency’s list of approved NETFILE software for official tax filing applications — there are both free and paid options.
I personally recommend Wealthsimple Tax.
What happens to my data?
TaxGPT needs general information about your province of residence and financial situation to make tailored recommendations about free tax-filing. Questions you type in and the responses to them are saved by Typebot, and are used to improve the service. However, no personal information is collected, which means responses can’t be used to identify you in any way.
I analyze the results to see how TaxGPT is performing and make regular improvements.
Are you making money from this?
No, this is not a branded or sponsored product: TaxGPT is a completely free service. I built it, I am paying to host it, and I don’t make any money back in any way.
I am actually losing tons of money — someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this.
Why did you build this then?
In 2019, a Canadian government team looked into the barriers preventing Canadians from filing for themselves and published their findings online. The major conclusion was that many Canadians lack confidence in their ability to file a return without making a mistake.
Doing taxes should be simple and straightforward, so TaxGPT tries to embody that.
Why do you only recommend Wealthsimple Tax?
I think Wealthsimple Tax is the best product for most people.
Some other tax filing products offer a free tier but then they try to undermine your confidence before you hit ‘submit’ — either suggesting you could get more money back with a paid verison, or recommending you have an expert look it over.
Government of Canada research has identified a “lack of confidence” as the main reason that Canadians don’t file on their own. Marketing campaigns and ‘dark design’ patterns often intentionally reinforce the mistaken notion that tax filing is best left to professionals. However, providing a well-designed experience greatly reduces peoples’ uncertainty about filing for themselves.
We don’t need “voting professionals” to fill out ballots for us during elections; similarly, most Canadians are capable of filing their own returns with the right tool and some encouragement.
That’s why I highlight Wealthsimple Tax specifically. It’s a well-designed, completely free tax-filing product without paid-for ‘premium’ features or trying to upsell you to an expert.
If you believe another free tax-filing product without dark design patterns should be featured by TaxGPT, get in touch with “paul [a] pcraig [dot] ca” and I’ll look into it.
Is TaxGPT a dangerous experiment? What about the risk of wrong answers?
Many people are intimidated by tax filing and feel like they have to be an expert or pay an expert to engage with the subject of taxes.
TaxGPT provides a simple user experience for people learning about taxes, in a way that is friendly and encouraging rather than being overly technical or undermining confidence. It is intended to be a helpful introduction to tax information. As mentioned in the disclaimer above, it is not good at understanding specific complex scenarios, and it is not a tax calculator (if you need one, try the 2022 Canada Income Tax Calculator).
TaxGPT has its limitations, but it’s better than avoiding the subject entirely, and there’s no perverse incentive here. It’s something you can use from your home, you can use for free, and it doesn’t try to profit from anyone’s confusion.
In the end, TaxGPT gives recommendations on how to file your taxes for free, and it can answer general questions about tax filing in Canada, but it doesn’t assist you in completing your return or file your taxes for you. TaxGPT is a way to get started learning about taxes in Canada.
“There’s a problem with the quiz”
Great, that’s just the feedback I am looking for. Please reach out and I will do my best to address it.
Just note that the quiz tries to simplify the tax journey for people with a modest income and/or a simple tax scenario. It doesn’t try to cover every possibility — I want to simplify things for the huge number of people that are likely paying someone else to EFILE for them every year.