Hand Claude a tax folder and have it draft returns only from those files

The scene

A year’s income, deductions, and forms are already in one folder. You want an agent to draft federal and state returns from those files only — inventing nothing, and filing nothing.

Tools involved

What they did

1. Put the tax documents in a dedicated folder, keep unrelated files out, and state the tax year and region.
2. Ask for a draft from that folder only. Every figure should name its source file, missing fields should be listed, and estimates or invented numbers are not allowed.
3. The output should be a draft you can check, not a filing or a mailing. The agent must ask before changing any original file.
4. A person should review every line before anything else happens. For an official filing, speak with a qualified tax professional.

Copyable prompt

Draft federal and state tax returns for [tax year] in [state or region] using only the files in [folder path]. Cite the source file for every figure. List anything missing as “needs confirmation”. Do not estimate or invent numbers. Give me a draft I can check; do not file, mail, or change original files without asking me first.

Rewritten here for you to try; not a verbatim excerpt from elsewhere. What it asks：Fill in the folder, year, and region. This is a cautious try-it prompt written here: draft only from the files, and do not file.

Things to watch

The author publicly described asking Claude to handle taxes with a very short instruction; the outcome is the author’s claim. Tax rules vary, and this is not tax or legal advice. You need Claude or a similar model that can read a folder, plus well-organized files. Whether you can do this in China depends on the service you use and whether the return involves overseas tax.

Claude or a similar model that can read a local or uploaded folder, plus the matching quota.

Reusable templates

Use only the files I handed you. List missing fields as “needs confirmation”. Do not estimate, fill gaps, or invent figures. Name the files you relied on in the output.