Taxation and duties;
Can ChatGPT handle my accounting and taxes? (and the real risk under Law 25)
23/7/2026
In short. No, ChatGPT cannot do your accounting or file your taxes in Quebec. It misunderstands tax rules (rates, limits, deadlines) and has no legal responsibility. Worse: uploading files containing personal information (employees, clients) could raise a question under Bill 25. A verified human will review and respond to any such requests.
We understand: ChatGPT responds in three seconds, it's free, and it talks about taxes with disarming confidence. So the real question is: can it keep your books and fill out your tax return? The honest answer is no, and not for reasons of principle. For two concrete reasons: it makes mistakes on specific tax rules, and simply pasting your figures into it creates a confidentiality risk as defined by Law 25. Here's why, with examples to back it up.
Yes, and that's the trap: he sounds confident when he's making things up. A "hallucination" is a false answer stated with assurance. In French tax law, this translates into outdated or outright false figures.
Two examples we see recurring. First, meal and entertainment expenses: an entrepreneur asks how much they can deduct, and the AI answers "100%." In reality, the general rule limits the deduction to 50%, but the two levels of government don't calculate it the same way. At the federal level (CRA, section 67.1 of the Income Tax Act), it's 50% of the lesser of the amount actually paid or a reasonable amount in the circumstances, with no cap based on revenue. At the federal level, it's also 50%, but with an additional cap calculated on the company's revenue. Deducting 100% in good faith, or applying the Quebec cap at the federal level, exposes you to an audit.
Secondly, there are the indexed amounts. RRSP contribution limits, tax brackets, vehicle depreciation limits, tax credits: all of these change every year. A generative model often responds with a value from a previous year because it "remembers" what it has seen, without knowing which year applies to you. Applying a 2022 rate to your 2025 return will result in an incorrect calculation. AI will never tell you "I'm not sure about the year": it simply provides an answer.
The crux of the problem: a generative tool produces the most probable sentence, not the legally accurate answer to YOUR situation. It doesn't know your business structure (sole trader, corporation, NGO), your country of residence, or your provisional tax payments. Accounting isn't general knowledge; it's the application of rules to specific facts.
This is where the Quebec perspective becomes serious, and this is the point that most articles overlook. When you paste your bank statements, your general ledger, or your business number into a public AI, you are transferring potentially confidential information to a third-party service, often hosted abroad, over which you have no control regarding its storage or use for training.
Since September 2023, Bill 25 (An Act to modernize legislative provisions concerning the protection of personal information) has governed the collection, disclosure, and transfer of personal information outside the province in Quebec. If you are self-employed or if your files contain information about employees, clients, or suppliers (names, salaries, social security numbers), uploading them to a public tool raises a significant compliance issue. The Commission d'accès à l'information (Access to Information Commission) is the authority responsible for ensuring compliance with these obligations. We are not citing a specific article here to avoid misleading you, but the principle is clear: your sensitive data should not end up in a public AI system without proper oversight.
An accountant, on the other hand, works under a confidentiality agreement, using tools designed for the secure hosting of data. Posting your financial statements in a public chat is the opposite.
Not at all, and it's important not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. AI excels at things that are repetitive and verifiable. That's the real division of roles.
AI performs exceptionally well: entering and categorizing invoices, reconciling bank statements, detecting anomalies in transaction flows, generating drafts, conducting basic searches, and all this at any time, effortlessly. Tools like Dext or Hubdoc scan and read your receipts; QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, or Pennylane automate journal entries; TurboTax guides you through a standard tax return. These are specialized software programs, trained and supported for accounting, which is nothing like a general-purpose ChatGPT.
Only a verified human expert can provide the following: professional judgment, a tax strategy tailored to your situation, the responsibility of signing off on and being accountable for their work, representing you before the CAF (French family allowance fund) and the tax authorities in case of an audit, a long-term relationship of trust, and correcting what the AI has hallucinated. This is the crux of the matter: who is responsible for the error?
You. And no one else on the machine side. The AI has no legal responsibility: it doesn't sign anything, it doesn't accompany you to the IRS, it doesn't pay the penalties.
Professional orders are clear on this point. The Quebec CPA Order, in its Guide to Best Practices in AI , emphasizes that the artificial intelligence tool does not assume responsibility: the professional remains accountable for the work and liable for any errors. CPA Ontario echoes this sentiment in its publication Accountabilities for CPAs in the Age of Artificial Intelligence : professional responsibility is not transferable to an algorithm, and member CPAs are accountable to their order for their work. In other words, AI can produce results, but a human must validate and endorse them. This is precisely where Bankeo stands.
Bankeo is neither software nor an accounting firm. We are a Quebec-based marketplace that connects you, free of charge, with a verified accountant from our network. This neutral third-party position is what allows us to tell you the truth: use AI for what it does best, and keep a human to validate and be accountable.
Notre position est simple : l'IA augmente la comptabilité, un humain vérifié valide tout et en répond devant l'ARC et Revenu Québec. Chaque comptable de notre réseau passe par l'Indice Bankeo, plus de 20 critères de vérification. Vous voulez savoir ce que ça coûte pour vrai ? La médiane est d'environ 3 000 $ par an, dans une fourchette de 500 $ à 6 000 $ selon votre profil, d'après le Baromètre Bankeo. C'est gratuit pour vous : vous ne payez jamais Bankeo, ce sont les comptables qui paient des frais par dossier conclu.
Notre réseau compte plus de 1 500 firmes inscrites, et Bankeo est noté 4,7/5 sur plus de 180 avis Google. Alors avant de confier vos chiffres à une IA publique, trouvez votre comptable idéal gratuitement avec Bankeo. On vous accompagne, toujours. Pour aller plus loin sur l'IA en comptabilité, tout notre dossier est réuni dans le hub IA et comptabilité.
No. It can explain general concepts, but it doesn't know the current year's parameters or your specific situation, and it confidently produces outdated or false figures. A declaration must be validated and approved by a responsible human.
It is not "illegal" in itself, but if your files contain personal information (employees, clients, NAS), uploading them to a public AI poses a real risk under Quebec's Law 25, overseen by the Commission d'accès à l'information.
Specialized software such as Dext, Hubdoc, QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, or Pennylane automates data entry, receipt reading, and reconciliation. They are designed and structured specifically for accounting, unlike a general-purpose ChatGPT.
You. AI has no legal responsibility. The CPA Orders (Quebec and Ontario) confirm that professional responsibility is not transferable to an algorithm: it is the professional who validates and answers for it.
Le jumelage Bankeo est gratuit pour l'entrepreneur ; vous ne payez jamais Bankeo. Les honoraires d'un comptable ont une médiane d'environ 3 000 $/an (fourchette 500 $ à 6 000 $) selon le Baromètre Bankeo.
General information provided for guidance purposes only, reflecting the current 2026 tax regulations. It does not replace the advice of an accountant or chartered accountant: always consult a professional for your specific situation.
Bankeo account pairing is 100% free, always. You only pay your accountant directly.
We can present you with the right accountant from our network, for your needs, with as many profiles as you require.
We will support you for as long as necessary. We will remain by your side.
Your request will be processed within a maximum of 48 working hours.
