Deduction today announced the launch of “Taylor, CPAI,” the first AI tax accountant built for U.S. consumers. Combining the intelligence of an autonomous AI agent with the oversight of licensed CPAs, Deduction delivers on-demand tax filings, proactive year-round planning, accurate tax calculations, and fast answers – all for a fraction of the cost of a traditional accountant.
Unlike existing AI tax tools built for professionals, Deduction is designed for everyday taxpayers. Users can communicate with Taylor, CPAI exactly as they would with a human accountant – by call, text, chat, or email – with no app or questionnaire required.
Deduction launches out of stealth with a $2.8 million pre-seed round led by One Way Ventures and Creator Ventures, with participation from Alpine VC, Intuition, Charley Moore, founder of Rocket Lawyer, and angels from OpenAI and Robinhood.
Reinventing taxes for consumers
Taylor, CPAI reimagines what it means to have a personal accountant. Instead of waiting weeks for replies, managing portals and PDFs, filling out questionnaires, or paying thousands for basic advice, users can now message Taylor, CPAI directly and get fast, human-backed responses. Every high-impact decision and final filing is reviewed by a licensed CPA, ensuring AI speed with professional accuracy and trust.
“Most AI tax tools are B2B, and focus on software for accountants and increasing margins,” said Sai Dhanak, co-founder and CEO of Deduction. “We built Deduction to radically improve the end-customer experience. With Taylor, CPAI, anyone can have a personal accountant, without the wait, the paperwork, or the high expense.”
Solving the CPA bottleneck
Behind the experience lies a larger mission: restoring the quality and availability of personal accounting. With three in four CPAs approaching retirement age and declining enrollment in accounting programs, consumers are facing longer waits, higher prices, and asking the classic question, “do you know a good accountant?”
Deduction bridges that gap by automating the most tedious parts of tax prep – document collection, client communication, proactive planning, and return generation – while keeping human CPAs in the loop for oversight and guarantee.
“There’s huge demand for white-glove tax prep and not enough professionals to deliver it. Deduction is solving this with the tax firm of the future” said Semyon Dukach, Founding Partner at One Way Ventures. “One of the partners at the firm – the most detail oriented – recently filed his taxes seamlessly with Deduction, and it even pointed out a small error in his process. I can only imagine how Deduction will improve consumers’ tax experience at scale.”
A new generation of tax filers
Tax preparation costs have soared to $1,000 – $10,000 for complex returns, even as most clients still wait weeks for responses. Deduction provides an alternative: fast filings, proactive advice, and a 24/7 AI accountant to answer financial questions outside of tax season.
“ChatGPT-native millennials and Gen Z expect AI to handle this,” Dhanak said. “We’ve built the accuracy, oversight, and guarantees to make it happen.”
Taylor, CPAI, has already completed filings for tech employees, creators, and sole proprietors as part of Deduction’s early deployment ahead of the 2026 tax season.
The humans behind the CPAI
Deduction was founded by Sai Dhanak and Jonathan Kieliszak. Dhanak, who grew up in the U.K. where taxes are largely automated, was struck by the complexity of filing in the U.S., while Kieliszak, hailing from a family of CPAs, saw how burn out and low technology adoption were limiting the profession.
“The big consumer AI tools largely cater to users with very generalized tasks and needs,” said Jonathank Kieliszak, Co-Founder and CTO. “But a great accountant is highly specialized, refined and experienced, which is why Taylor is built alongside our human CPA team with specific guardrails and information sources to deliver trustworthy tax support.”
“We have an incredible team of CPAs who develop Taylor and sign off on every return,” added Casey Epton, CPA, Deduction’s Senior Tax Advisor. “That’s Deduction’s differentiator – a full human-AI firm, not just an AI assistant.”
Deduction’s team includes engineering, marketing, and CPA talent from Square, Robinhood, Strike, Gusto, and other fintech leaders.
