Tax planning has become a larger part of wealth management as clients hold assets across taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts. According to the statistics, 63% of RIAs now use AI in some part of their business. New AI tools can analyze tax returns, portfolio holdings, and income projections within seconds, helping advisors identify planning opportunities that are difficult to find through manual reviews. As clients place greater emphasis on after-tax returns, AI is becoming an increasingly common tool for tax planning.
How Can RIAs Improve Tax Planning?
AI can review income, account types, investment holdings, and future tax projections to identify tax-efficient planning opportunities. Instead of reviewing one scenario at a time, AI can compare thousands of possible outcomes using the same client data.
As tax rules continue to change, more firms are expected to use AI to support tax-aware investment decisions and multi-year financial planning.
How Can AI Improve Tax-Loss Harvesting?
Tax-loss harvesting requires continuous monitoring because opportunities can disappear quickly as markets change. AI can identify unrealized losses, evaluate wash-sale rules, and recommend trades before opportunities are lost.
Some AI-powered tax-loss harvesting programs have generated $15,000 to $30,000 in additional annual tax savings for clients, while one documented case reported approximately $47,000 in tax savings.
How Can AI Support Long-Term Tax Planning?
Tax decisions often affect investment, retirement, charitable giving, and withdrawal strategies. AI can evaluate these areas together instead of reviewing each decision separately.
As more firms adopt integrated planning technology, AI is expected to play a larger role in coordinating tax strategies across a client's entire financial plan while improving consistency and reducing planning time.
What Overlooked Areas Can Improve Tax Planning?
Additional assets can also create new tax planning opportunities.
Securities class action settlements totaled approximately $8 billion in 2025, yet many eligible claims went unclaimed because filing them required significant manual work. As AI capabilities continue to advance, platforms such as 11th.com automate this workflow and deposit proceeds directly into client accounts. Recovering settlement proceeds gives clients additional assets that can be incorporated into broader tax, investment, and retirement planning strategies.
What Should RIAs Prioritize in 2026?
Tax efficiency continues to rank among the highest priorities for affluent investors. As AI capabilities expand, firms are expected to rely more on automated tax analysis, tax-loss harvesting, Roth conversion modeling, and multi-year planning to deliver more personalized and tax-efficient financial advice.
FAQ
Why should RIAs use AI for tax planning?
AI helps advisors analyze tax returns, investment accounts, and income data more quickly, allowing them to identify planning opportunities that may be missed during manual reviews.
How can AI improve tax-loss harvesting?
AI continuously monitors portfolios for tax-loss harvesting opportunities, helping advisors capture losses more efficiently while reducing wash-sale risk.
Can AI help RIAs evaluate Roth conversions?
Yes. AI can compare multiple Roth conversion scenarios based on current income, future tax brackets, retirement goals, and required minimum distributions.
How does AI support long-term tax planning?
AI can coordinate tax planning across investment accounts, retirement strategies, charitable giving, and withdrawal planning to improve after-tax outcomes over multiple years.
What overlooked opportunity can create additional tax planning value for clients?
Recovering securities class action settlement proceeds can provide additional assets that RIAs can incorporate into broader tax, investment, and retirement planning strategies.
