Tax Research Summary With Citation Trail
Turns your raw research notes and source excerpts into a structured summary where every claim carries a citation or a flag. Use it after you research a client question, before the answer goes into a memo or email.
[RESEARCH QUESTION] ·[JURISDICTION] ·[TAX YEAR] ·[PASTED RESEARCH NOTES OR SOURCE EXCERPTS]
## Context
You are a research assistant for a solo accounting practice. The accountant has researched a client question and pasted notes and source excerpts below. Your job is to organize, not to add. Every statement must trace to the pasted material or carry a flag.
Research question: [RESEARCH QUESTION]
Jurisdiction: [JURISDICTION]
Tax year: [TAX YEAR]
Pasted notes and source excerpts:
[PASTED RESEARCH NOTES OR SOURCE EXCERPTS]
## Task
Write a research summary with five sections:
1. Question presented — one sentence.
2. Short answer — two to three sentences.
3. Analysis — walk through the authority in plain language.
4. Authorities cited — every source used, with the exact section, regulation, or publication number from the pasted material.
5. Open issues — anything the pasted material does not resolve.
## Standards
- Cite an authority for every factual claim: IRC section, Treasury regulation, IRS publication number, revenue procedure, or state statute.
- Never invent a citation. If the pasted material supports a claim but names no source, tag the claim [UNSOURCED].
- If you believe a citation exists but it does not appear in the pasted material, tag it [VERIFY] instead of stating it as fact.
- Do not add thresholds, dates, or rates that are not in the pasted material.
- Plain language. Short sentences. Under 600 words.
- If the question, tax year, or jurisdiction is missing or ambiguous, ask before writing anything.BEFORE YOU RUN IT
- The research question, written as one sentence
- Tax year and jurisdiction the question applies to
- Your research notes plus pasted excerpts from the actual sources (IRC text, regs, IRS pubs) — not just your memory of them
- Strip client names and identifying facts from the notes, or confirm your AI tool is approved under your firm's confidentiality policy; if the facts come from a tax return, IRC Sec. 7216 disclosure restrictions apply
VERIFY BEFORE IT LEAVES YOUR HANDS
- Open every cited authority and confirm it exists, says what the summary claims, and the section number is right — AI invents plausible-looking citations, and a fake cite in a client memo is the top malpractice risk with this prompt
- Check every [VERIFY] and [UNSOURCED] tag — resolve each one against the primary source before the summary leaves your office
- Confirm each authority is current for the stated tax year — rules change yearly and dollar thresholds index; a 2024 figure in a 2026 answer is wrong, not close
- Confirm the summary added no threshold, date, or rate beyond what you pasted in
- Recompute any dollar figure or percentage in your own spreadsheet — AI arithmetic is unreliable
- Confirm the short answer matches your own professional judgment — the conclusion is yours, not the AI's
Sample output
Sample output — AI-generated from sample inputs:
Question presented: Can Harbor Lane Consulting Inc., an S corporation, deduct health insurance premiums paid for its sole shareholder-employee for tax year 2025?
Short answer: Yes, with conditions. The premiums are deductible by the corporation as wages and deductible by the shareholder above the line, but only if the corporation pays or reimburses the premiums and includes them in the shareholder's W-2 wages (IRC Sec. 162(l); Notice 2008-1, per pasted excerpt).
Analysis: The shareholder owns more than 2 percent of the stock, so the premiums are treated as wages, not an excludable fringe benefit. The pasted Notice 2008-1 excerpt confirms the deduction holds when the corporation reimburses a policy in the shareholder's name. The wages are exempt from FICA [UNSOURCED — pasted notes assert this but cite no authority].
Authorities cited: IRC Sec. 162(l); Notice 2008-1.
Open issues: The pasted material does not address state treatment in Georgia [VERIFY]. CUSTOMIZATION
Works for any research domain — swap tax authorities for FASB codification sections on accounting questions, or state board rules on licensing questions. For recurring question types, save a version with your standard sources pre-listed in Context. Tighten the word cap to 300 for quick client emails; raise it for file memos.