Estimate the year's federal, state and local tax still due from a folder of tax documents with Claude Cowork, before the accountant reports
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- by Anthony Garcia (Substack)
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Outcome
Anthony Garcia's taxes had got complicated enough that Garcia hired an accountant, who was still a month and a half away from giving the full picture. Garcia copied all the tax files, some electronic PDFs and some scans of paper copies, into one folder, pointed Claude Cowork at it and asked for an estimate of the 2025 taxes due. Claude read all of them. In 30 minutes it produced a summary table of tax liability, amount withheld and balance due, with a thorough breakdown that referred to boxes on the tax forms.
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Prompt Original prompt
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can you review all of these documents and estimate my 2025 federal, state, and local tax payments due?
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Optional stronger version
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Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Estimate how much tax I'll owe or get back this year from the documents I already have. Fill in before running: - Folder with my tax documents (wage forms, 1099s, last year's return): [FOLDER] - Where I live and file: [DETAILS] - Anything else that changed this year (move, new job, side income): [DETAILS] You're not my accountant or financial adviser. Show your working, label estimates as estimates, and tell me which points a professional or the official source should confirm. Rules: - List every document you read and anything you couldn't read. - For federal, state and local tax, show liability, amount withheld or paid, and balance due or refund, in a table. - Cite the form and box for each number. - Label everything as an estimate and list what my accountant or the official forms must confirm. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Note any missing document that a typical return like mine would need. Output: A summary table, the working behind it, and a list of open questions for my accountant. You'll know it worked when: I know roughly what I'll owe before the accountant's figures arrive, and the numbers can be traced to my documents. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
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Your prompt
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Estimate how much tax I'll owe or get back this year from the documents I already have. Fill in before running: - Folder with my tax documents (wage forms, 1099s, last year's return): [FOLDER] - Where I live and file: [DETAILS] - Anything else that changed this year (move, new job, side income): [DETAILS] You're not my accountant or financial adviser. Show your working, label estimates as estimates, and tell me which points a professional or the official source should confirm. Rules: - List every document you read and anything you couldn't read. - For federal, state and local tax, show liability, amount withheld or paid, and balance due or refund, in a table. - Cite the form and box for each number. - Label everything as an estimate and list what my accountant or the official forms must confirm. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - Note any missing document that a typical return like mine would need. Output: A summary table, the working behind it, and a list of open questions for my accountant. You'll know it worked when: I know roughly what I'll owe before the accountant's figures arrive, and the numbers can be traced to my documents. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
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3 blanks are still empty: Folder with my tax documents (wage forms, 1099s, last year's return); Where I live and file; Anything else that changed this year (move, new job, side income). They'll stay in brackets in your prompt, so the chat tool may ask you about them.
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Source
https://acgarcia21.substack.com/p/claude-cowork-can-do-your-taxes
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