{"id":31575,"date":"2024-02-06T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=31575"},"modified":"2025-04-30T12:06:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T19:06:07","slug":"how-hr-block-is-using-azure-openai-service-to-bring-ease-to-american-taxpayers-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/how-hr-block-is-using-azure-openai-service-to-bring-ease-to-american-taxpayers-this-season\/","title":{"rendered":"How H&R Block is using Azure OpenAI Service to bring ease to American taxpayers this season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2023, we saw generative AI usher in a wave of new innovations, from Microsoft Copilot<\/a> to the \u201clast song\u201d from The Beatles<\/a> to helping rural India farmers gain easier access to government services<\/a>. These AI innovations are now starting to show up in our everyday lives and have a positive impact for millions of people around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, as part of Microsoft\u2019s FY24 Q2 Earnings, we announced we now have 53,000 Azure AI customers. Over one-third are new to Azure this calendar year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we have great momentum with Azure OpenAI Service, too, which became generally available<\/a> just over 12 months ago, empowering developers and organizations to build AI applications with OpenAI\u2019s latest models (including GPT-4 Turbo with Vision, fine-tuning for the foundational models, and DALL-E 3) backed by the enterprise capabilities of our Azure cloud. We continue to introduce new innovation<\/a> with Azure OpenAI Service including Assistants API in preview, text-to-speech capabilities, support for new models, and updates to fine-tuning API.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Azure AI<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Build intelligent apps at enterprise scale with the Azure AI portfolio<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLearn more<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Today, thousands of organizations around the world are using Azure OpenAI service to drive meaningful business impact for people and society. We are seeing increased usage from AI-first startups like DeepBrain<\/a>, Perplexity<\/a>, and SymphonyAI<\/a>, as well as the world\u2019s biggest companies. Over half of the Fortune 500 use Azure OpenAI today, including AT&T<\/a>, Walmart<\/a>, Ally Financial<\/a>, and Carmax<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helping taxpayers with AI Tax Assist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s no secret that filing taxes can be stressful, overwhelming, and time-consuming. According to the IRS, the average taxpayer spends 13 hours preparing their return. As we enter this year\u2019s tax season (the IRS officially began accepting eFiling from individuals on January 29), it\u2019s especially exciting to see how H&R Block is leveraging the generative AI capabilities of Azure to help ease the filing process for taxpayers this year.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost half (46%) of the 146 million tax filers in the U.S. prepare and file their own<\/em> taxes. This season, those 69 million DIYers will have the ability to simplify the tax preparation process with H&R Block AI Tax Assist<\/a>.1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sound familiar? You may have caught a glimpse of AI Tax Assist commercials<\/a> last month during the NFL playoffs, or when the solution first launched in December 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

H&R Block AI Tax Assist is a generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) experience that harnesses the power of Azure OpenAI Service to help streamline the tax preparation process for individuals, the self-employed and small business owners to file and manage their taxes confidently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“With H&R Block AI Tax Assist, we are enhancing the DIY tax filing experience. By applying generative AI tools with our unique ability to provide human expertise at scale, we\u2019re taking a step forward in innovation to help make the tax filing process easier. We\u2019re thrilled to work with Microsoft and leverage the power of Azure OpenAI Service to transform how Americans do their taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2013 Heather Watts, Senior Vice President of Consumer Tax Products, H&R Block <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Leveraging data from H&R Block\u2019s The Tax Institute<\/a> and the experience of more than 60,000 tax professionals, H&R Block AI Tax Assist helps DIY customers efficiently work through the tax preparation process by assisting with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n