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Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents

Determine tax liability or collect taxes from individuals or business firms according to prescribed laws and regulations.

56,610 people do this job in the US. $62,370 a year.

now
62%

of the working time. Estimate.

Kinds of work
  • 90%
  • 9%
  • 1%
3%

Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.

Half the desk work within reach
Already

On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.

Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030

0%25%50%75%100%2027202820292030NowDesk work: 90% of the time
Chosen to Ceiling: the share
DateNow
NowEnd of 2030

What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .

At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.

How far this has come

With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 51%. Today's estimate: 62%.

0%25%50%75%2023202420252026GPT-4, March 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4 Turbo (Nov 2023), November 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4o, May 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (June 2024), June 2024: 0% within reacho1-preview, September 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (Oct 2024), October 2024: 0% within reacho1, December 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.7 Sonnet, February 2025: 2% within reacho3, April 2025: 9% within reachGPT-5, August 2025: 13% within reachGemini 3 Pro, November 2025: 18% within reachClaude Opus 4.5, November 2025: 18% within reachGPT-5.2, December 2025: 22% within reachClaude Opus 4.6, February 2026: 23% within reachClaude Mythos Preview (early), April 2026: 51% within reachToday (estimate), September 2026: 62% within reach
Each step is a new best model measured by METR, four in five; the dashed end is today's estimate. Point at a dot for the model.

A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.

The tasks

Sorted by . 21 tasks from .

TaskKind
Determine appropriate methods of debt settlement, such as offers of compromise, wage garnishment, or seizure and sale of property.Done hourly or more by most who do it.14%2.1 h50 min to 4.2 h72%Half by now
Examine and analyze tax assets and liabilities to determine resolution of delinquent tax problems.Done hourly or more by most who do it.14%2.1 h50 min to 5 h65%Half by now
Collect taxes from individuals or businesses according to prescribed laws and regulations.Done hourly or more by most who do it.10%50 min13 min to 3.3 h69%Half by now
Investigate claims of inability to pay taxes by researching court information for the status of liens, mortgages, or financial statements, or by locating assets through third parties.Done daily by most who do it.10%2.5 h50 min to 1 work day40%Half by Dec 2026
Examine accounting systems and records to determine whether accounting methods used were appropriate and in compliance with statutory provisions.Done more than monthly by most who do it.8%6.7 h1.7 h to 3.1 work days7%Half by Nov 2027
Impose payment deadlines on delinquent taxpayers and monitor payments to ensure that deadlines are met.Done hourly or more by most who do it.5%33 min13 min to 1.3 h99%Half by now
Review selected tax returns to determine the nature and extent of audits to be performed on them.Done yearly or less by most who do it.5%1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h87%Half by now
Confer with taxpayers or their representatives to discuss the issues, laws, and regulations involved in returns, and to resolve problems with returns.Done several times a day by most who do it. 5%50 min25 min to 2.5 hStays with people
Review filed tax returns to determine whether claimed tax credits and deductions are allowed by law.Done several times a day by most who do it.4%1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h65%Half by now
Direct service of legal documents, such as subpoenas, warrants, notices of assessment, and garnishments.Done hourly or more by most who do it.4%50 min25 min to 1.7 hStays with people
Maintain records for each case, including contacts, telephone numbers, and actions taken.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 3%17 min8 min to 29 min100%Half by now
Check tax forms to verify that names and taxpayer identification numbers are correct, that computations have been performed correctly, or that amounts match those on supporting documentation.Done hourly or more by most who do it.3%25 min8 min to 1.3 h97%Half by now

Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.

Jobs that share skills with this one

From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.

Where this job works

The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).

Where the most of these jobs are

The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).