We have often seen in a Hollywood or a Bollywood movie that a Hero is being hunted by a Villian and his goons. Our Hero gets hit by a bullet, but he cannot go to a Hospital or call a Doctor. So, he performs surgery on himself using a knife, spirit and a piece of cloth and manages to remove the bullet. Our Hero survives to fight another battle, thanks to the imagination of the Writer and Director of the Movie, but just think what happens if this Do it Yourself (DIY) job was performed by someone in real life? This heroic action by our Hero could prove to be fatal, isn’t it ?
Now a days we often come across, Tax Return filing software; marketed as Do It yourself (DIY) products. It claims to be AI Driven, AI Assisted, AI based and what not. It says something like this “No need to hire expensive tax professionals and chartered accountants, just do it yourself, in minutes…….”. Filing of tax returns without taking professional help is similar to self-medication or performing self-surgery and it can often turn out to be a disastrous move, as ignorance of Law can not be an excuse under any law and more so under Income Tax Law for that matter.
Friends, the Income Tax Law in India is one of the most complex pieces of legislations, which is prevailing in India since the year 1961 and it gets amended every year with hundreds of changes brought about; by way of Budget Proposals. Additionally; throughout the year, the Government issues no. of Notifications, Circulars. FAQs etc. clarifying various complex issues. Chartered Accountants studies Income Tax Law for years, get practical exposure during their Articleship (Internship) Training, keep track of judicial decisions and legal pronouncements on almost daily basis in order to equip themselves, to offer correct advice to their clients. Now a days some of the return Form runs into 80-100, pages with numerous disclosures. One single mistake can become a costly affair. In order to save few bucks, relying on some readymade software, claiming to file tax returns could turn out to be “Aa Bail Muje Maar” kind of a situation.
Many people have started blindly relying on Chat GPT, Perplexity and other Open AI to avoid consulting tax experts. However, mind well, speaking in the first ever episode of the OpenAI podcast, Sam Altman (Founder of Open AI) warned saying, “People have a very high degree of trust in ChatGPT, which is interesting, because AI hallucinates. It should be the tech that you don’t trust that much. Talking about the limitations of ChatGPT, Altman added, “It’s not super reliable… we need to be honest about that.
It is a fact that AI chatbots are prone to hallucination i.e. making stuff up with confidence that isn’t completely true, for a no of reasons like biased training data, lack of grounding in real-world knowledge, pressure to always respond and predictive text generation. The morale of the story is that blindly relying on stuffs generated by Open AI could be disastrous.
We often come across real life incidents where people either file their tax returns on their own after consulting some so called tax practitioner on phone, without realizing consequences of mis reporting or erroneous reporting. Incorrect income reporting, not reporting Foreign Assets and Income, claiming ineligible deductions, or misinterpreting tax laws are common errors. Mistakes can result in notices from the Income Tax Department, penalties, or even scrutiny assessments. The total tax bill could turn out to be more then the income in some cases.
Filing taxes is not just a formality, it’s a legal and financial responsibility. A CA doesn’t just file your return—they optimize your tax liability, ensure full compliance, and protect you from future issues. The small fee they charge can save you a lot more in the long run.
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. While efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, tax laws and regulations are subject to change and can vary based on individual circumstances. Readers are strongly advised to consult a qualified tax professional or advisor before making any decisions based on this information. The readers can reach out to the Author on tushar_kamdar@hotmail.com for any questions or query.
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