Google Gemma 4 on a Form 1040, page 2
Red outline: private detail left visibleBlue outline: over-redaction
Google Gemma 4 left the refund's bank account and routing numbers visible.
For professionals · Tax preparers
Ask Ai about a client's return without handing it your client's identity
A client's SSN doesn't belong in an Ai chat. Cover takes the client's identity out first, so Ai gets only the figures.
- CPAs
- Enrolled agents
- Tax preparers
How it works
Stop leaking your client's identity to Ai
Drag the tax notice into Cover, then drag the redacted copy into your Ai chat. It answers with labels where the private details were.
Animation: IRS letter.pdf is dragged into Cover, which replaces each private detail on the page with a label (ADDR_1, NAME_1, SSN_1). The redacted copy is dragged into an Ai chat with a question, and the Ai answers using the labels.
The tax notice as the Ai receives it, IRS letter-redacted.pdf: Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Notice CP2000 Tax year 2025 [NAME_1] [ADDR_1] Cupertino, CA 95014 Your SSN [SSN_1] We propose changes to your 2025 tax return Refund you claimed $2,525 → Revised refund $2,140 Income you reported $84,210 Income reported to us $85,960 Tax change +$385
Question: Should I have gotten a bigger refund this year?
The Ai's answer: [NAME_1] reported $1,750 less income than the IRS has on file, so the refund drops by $385.
Try it on your own document: drop a PDF into Cover for Web and see what it redacts.
Ask Ai
Tax answers from Ai, without your client's identity
Turn on Tokens and each redaction carries a label like [NAME_1] or [SSN_1], the same on every page. The Ai can still tell the spouses apart and answers with the labels. It works from the labels, not the real details.
What does this CP2000 want, and what do we send back?
The IRS has $1,750 more income on file for [NAME_1] than the return shows, from a 1099 that wasn't included. Agree and pay the $385, or explain the difference by the response date.
What changed from last year's return?
[NAME_1]'s wages rose about $6,000, but withholding stayed almost flat, so the refund shrank even though the tax rate did not change.
Simulated answers.
What it removes
What Cover takes out of a client's return
Cover finds these on its own, repeats across the document included:
- Social Security numbers, masked ones too
- ITINs
- EINs
- Bank account numbers
- Routing numbers
- Names and addresses
What it's for
What you can do with it
Work a notice with Ai
The figures stay. The SSN and tax IDs come out.
Compare this year with last
Ask what changed, with labels in place of the names.
Send papers to a third party
A lender or an advisor gets what they need, without the SSN.
Privacy
Nothing is uploaded
Cloud redaction tools
The document goes to someone else's servers before anything is redacted.
Cover
Nothing is uploaded. Personal identifiers are removed before the document goes anywhere.
Why it matters
What the IRS and the FTC expect
- IRS guidance 2026-19The Office of Professional Responsibility's June 2026 guidelines on Ai in tax practice cite the penalties for disclosing return information, and warn that Ai tools can reuse one client's data.
- FTC Safeguards RuleTax preparers must keep a written information security plan. Cover can be one control in your firm's plan.
Benchmark
Real results on a 1040
Few redaction tools show any proof they work. In our tests, some redacted dollar amounts, so Ai can't read the figures it needs for financial analysis.
Apple Intelligence on the W-2 in a tax return
Red outline: private detail left visibleBlue outline: over-redaction
Apple Intelligence redacted nothing on this W-2, leaving the name and Social Security number visible.
Tested on one real 1040: every local Ai engine left 1 to 15 of 15 private details visible. Cover left 0.
See how Cover's redaction engine hides your personal information vs the best local Ai engines
Questions
Does Cover take care of Section 7216 consent?
No. The consent rules still apply, and Cover keeps the client's identity out of whatever you send. (Section 7216 is the tax-code rule that makes it a crime for a preparer to disclose or use a client's return information for anything but preparing the return without the client's consent.)
Does it catch an SSN that's already masked?
Yes, pre-masked ones too.
Will the SSN come out everywhere it appears?
Yes. Redact a value once and Cover finds it elsewhere in the document too, and you check every page.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The PDF is never uploaded, and the redaction runs offline. Personal identifiers are removed before anything goes to Ai, and you check every page.
More: Tax notice · Bank statement · Medical records · Investments · Lease · Mortgage · Cover vs Adobe Acrobat
For professionals: For attorneys · For investment advisors · For HR teams · For FOIA and public records