Perplexity Goes After Tax Prep, IRS Testing Palantir for Audits
From The Accounting Podcast by Blake Oliver & David Leary
April 13, 2026 · 1h 5m · Episode 482
About this episode
Blake and David discuss the implications of AI in tax prep and the IRS's use of Palantir for audits.
What happens when AI starts doing more than answering questions? Blake and David dig into Perplexity’s move into tax prep and bookkeeping, the IRS testing Palantir to help select audit targets, and why many firms still aren’t seeing real ROI from AI. They also unpack the surprising success of Trump accounts and what all of this could mean for accountants, firm workflows, and the future of the profession. Sponsors OnPay - http://accountingpodcast.promo/onpay Cloud Accountant Staffing - http://accountingpodcast.promo/cas REFRAME 2026 - http://accountingpodcast.promo/reframe2026 Wurthy - http://accountingpodcast.promo/wurthy Chapters (00:00) - TAP 482 (02:37) - Trump Accounts Boom (07:22) - CPE With Earmark (08:38) - Perplexity Targets Taxes (12:32) - AI Agents And Moats (23:43) - Claude Cowork Bookkeeping (30:25) - Digits Outcome Pricing (30:58) - Digits Pay For Performance (31:25) - Zero Touch Guarantee (31:56) - Pricing Power Debate (32:20) - Switching GL Friction (33:11) - Reframe Conference Sponsor (34:26) - AI Security Banter (35:14) - IRS Palantir Snap Audits (39:09) - AI ROI Wrong Math (44:27) - Find The Bottleneck (46:14) - Automate Client Intake (48:02) - Claude PBC…
People in this episode
Hosts: Blake Oliver, David Leary
Topics covered
- AI in tax preparation
- IRS audits
- accounting technology
- ROI from AI
- future of accounting
- Trump accounts
Keywords
- AI
- tax preparation
- IRS
- Palantir
- accounting
- Trump accounts
- ROI
- bookkeeping
Sponsors
OnPay, Cloud Accountant Staffing, REFRAME 2026, Wurthy
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Perplexity, IRS, Palantir
Books & works: Trump Accounts
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