Cut tax-prep grunt work to about three hours with Claude Code

WorkedEvidence: Described by posterPosted Apr 1, 2026Last checked Nov 5, 2026

Chris Blattman used Claude Code to assemble donations, deductions and a Schedule C in about three hours versus a ~$1,000 accountant.

Source checked Nov 5, 2026
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Help me prepare my taxes with Claude Code: assemble charitable contributions from this Google Sheet, compile itemized deductions from these receipts and statements, and build a Schedule C for my consulting income. Sort and filter transactions, parse CSVs and output spreadsheets ready for tax software. Ask before guessing medical vs childcare categories.

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Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish.

Goal: Finish the painful tax-prep assembly work locally with Claude Code before I open filing software.

Questions to ask me first:
- Which forms apply (W-2, 1099, Schedule C, itemized)?
- Where are receipts, Sheets and CSV exports?
- Which categories must stay human-reviewed?

Inputs (fill in or confirm):
- Contribution Sheet: [FILE]
- Statements/receipts: [FILES]
- Consulting income notes: [LIST]

Rules:
- Do not invent deductions.
- Flag ambiguous medical vs childcare rows for me.
- Keep a clear audit trail of what was auto-sorted.
- This is workflow help, not tax advice.

Checkpoint: Show the category mapping on 20 sample rows before processing everything.

If you get stuck: If a CSV column is unclear, ask me to label it.

Verify before you finish: Totals match source exports before I import into tax software.

Output: Clean spreadsheets plus a short handoff checklist for filing software.

Done when: I can import assembled numbers without re-sorting receipts by hand.

AI tool

Claude Code

Outcome

Chris Blattman (publishing as Claude Blattman) used Claude Code for as much personal tax preparation as possible: assembling charitable contributions from a sprawling Google Sheet, compiling itemized deductions from scattered email and credit-card receipts, and building a Schedule C for consulting income. Some review stayed manual — eyeballing statements for medical vs childcare charges — but Claude Code handled sorting, filtering, CSV parsing and spreadsheet assembly. Blattman estimates the work took about three hours versus roughly $1,000 for an accountant. Separate fictional walkthroughs on the same page are educational only.

Evidence: Described by posterThe person describes what happened in words, without screenshots or video.

Source

Posted: Apr 1, 2026 by Chris Blattman (Claude Blattman)
Last checked: Nov 5, 2026
Method:: How we verify

https://claudeblattman.com/tax-workflow/

Context: Author warns later page examples are fictional; the about three hours versus about $1,000 accountant claim is presented as personal. Source page has no clear published day stamp. Not tax advice.