Will clients want to use AI to prepare their own taxes instead of hiring a CPA?

Several participants speaking from a client/investor perspective said no. One noted they are deep in their own data daily and love LLMs, but have zero desire to replace their CPA — their priority is being able to pick up the phone and talk to their preparer, and to spend that relationship time on strategy and planning rather than data-gathering. Another described being a former CPA firm owner who is now a client herself, and said even though she knows how to prepare her own return, she'd rather pay someone else to do it — comparing it to knowing how to clean her own house but not wanting to. A third participant said they filed their own taxes once, made a mistake, and will never do it again regardless of how easy AI makes it, given the potential consequences and the amount they already spend on tax filings across their portfolio. The general view was that AI won't replace the tax preparer/advisor relationship, though it might have more of an effect on bookkeeping (with some uncertainty expressed there, 'we'll see').