Tax research, then put the answer to work

Research is rarely the end of the job. You look something up because a client's plan, estimate or return depends on it. Yet most research tools stop at the answer, and the work happens somewhere else.

In Instead, research happens inside the tax engine, next to the client. Ask what basis an heir takes in inherited property, what the Tax Court held about a fraud penalty on a joint return, or whether a scholarship fund kept its private foundation status. Then take the answer into the client's tax plan. And when a case comes up, ask which of your clients it touches.

Short answer: AI tax research answers a tax question with citations you can check. In Instead, research runs inside the tax engine, next to the client, so you can carry the answer into the client's tax plan, an estimate or the return, and ask which of your clients a case or rule touches.

How AI tax research works in Instead

AI tax research in Instead runs inside the tax engine, so the answer and the client sit in the same workspace. From a research thread you can start the client's tax plan, carry the point into an estimate, or work it through the return. The reviewer sees the research and the work together.

That is what a firm agent inside the tax engine makes possible.

AI for tax questions across many clients at once

Ask the agent which of your clients a case or IRS position touches. It goes through your client list, sets aside the clients the rule cannot apply to, checks the rest, and reports back client by client, as a draft for your review.

A case comes up, or the IRS changes a position. The question for a firm is not only what it says. It is which clients it touches.

Primary sources for AI tax research in Instead

In Instead, the agent searches a curated library of 156,948 documents across 124 source types first, and Source Explorer lists that library in full. It covers the primary sources of tax law, from the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations to court opinions, plus IRS guidance and state rules.

An answer is only as good as what the tool searched. The library holds federal court opinions, Tax Court opinions, the Tax Court Rules of Practice, Tax Court orders and state court decisions. It holds IRS guidance, from publications and the Internal Revenue Bulletin to written determinations, audit technique guides and Chief Counsel advice. And it holds Congressional Research Service and GAO reports, Joint Committee on Taxation publications, tax treaties, and state and city administrative rules. New sources are added every day.

Browse it like a library, search it by citation, and pick up the sources you opened recently. Bookmark the ones you rely on.

Citations you can check in every AI tax research answer

Each answer sits beside its sources. Hover a citation to see the passage the answer relies on, and click it to open the source in Source Explorer. Highlight any line and ask about it, and the agent answers from that source. A reviewer can read what the agent read before anything goes in the file.

AI tax research with web search on or off

In Instead, web search is a switch in the chat, so AI tax research reaches the open web only when you want it to. Leave it off and the answer stays inside the authoritative library. Turn it on when you want the latest news on a case or a state notice from the open web too.

Primary sources stay one click away, from the U.S. Tax Court to IRS Publication 551 on the basis of assets.

Best AI tax research tools compared

The best AI tax research tool depends on what happens after the answer. General AI models write well, research libraries hold deep content, and newer AI research tools answer with citations. Instead includes cited tax research in the tax engine, so the answer goes into the client's plan, an estimate or the return.

General AI models like ChatGPT

General AI models such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are excellent writers and can search the web. They do not come with a curated tax library you can browse, and they are not connected to your clients' returns.

Tax research libraries

Legacy research libraries such as CCH AnswerConnect, Thomson Reuters Checkpoint and Bloomberg Tax hold deep editorial content, but you search and read them yourself. They have no AI research agent of their own (Thomson Reuters sells its AI, CoCounsel, as a separate product), and the library is usually a separate cost from your tax software.

AI tax research tools

Newer AI research tools such as Blue J, CoCounsel Tax, Marble and TaxGPT answer with citations, and some draft memos. Blue J, CoCounsel Tax and TaxGPT can't turn the research into deliverable tax work, so it never ends up on the return. You need separate tools to prepare and file, and research is a separate cost outside your tax prep and filing product. Marble also advertises preparing returns for review, as its own subscription.

AI tax research in Instead

In Instead, cited tax research is included in the tax engine. The answer goes into the client's tax plan, an estimate or the return in the same workspace, and one question can be researched across many clients at once.

What to ask before you choose AI tax research software

If you are choosing, test any tool on your own hardest question and on a normal one, then see how far the answer goes.

Questions to ask before you commit:

1. How does it answer our hardest question, and a normal one?
2. Can we see its full source list?
3. Can we open the authority behind each answer?
4. What changes when we turn web search off?
5. Can we take the answer into a client's plan, an estimate or the return?

More on running a modern practice in Instead for CPA firms, audit red flags and client communication workflows.

Free white paper

Tax research

Then put the answer to work

Researching inside the tax engine, next to the client, with every source in plain sight, then carrying the answer into the tax plan, the estimate and the return. Free PDF.

Download the white paper

How AI tax research would work at your firm

The Instead AI tax platform runs cited tax research inside the tax engine, next to your clients' plans, estimates and returns, with every source in plain sight and a person reviewing the work.

For more depth, download the white paper. To see it on your own clients, start your trial at instead.com.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is AI tax research?

A: AI tax research uses an AI agent to answer a tax question from tax sources and cite them. In Instead, the agent searches a curated library of 156,948 documents across 124 source types first, and each answer sits beside the citations it relies on, as a draft for your professional review.

Q: What sources does Instead search for tax research?

A: Instead searches a curated library of 156,948 documents across 124 source types, listed by category in Source Explorer and in the white paper that goes with this post. It holds the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, court opinions, IRS guidance and state rules, and new sources are added every day.

Q: Can I keep AI tax research answers to the library only?

A: Yes, you can keep answers to the library only. Web search is a switch in the chat settings. Leave it off and the agent answers from the curated library alone. Turn it on when you want the latest news on a case or a state notice from the open web too.

Q: Can I check the passage an AI tax research answer relies on?

A: Yes. Hover a citation to see the passage the answer relies on, and click it to open the source in Source Explorer. You can also highlight any line and ask about it, and the agent answers from that source, so a reviewer reads what the agent read.

Q: Can AI research a tax question across many clients at once?

A: Yes. In Instead, ask which of your clients a case or rule touches. The agent goes through your client list, sets aside the clients the rule cannot apply to, checks the rest, and reports back client by client, as a draft for your review.

Q: Is ChatGPT good for tax research?

A: General AI models such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are excellent writers and can search the web. They do not come with a curated tax library you can browse, and they are not connected to your clients' returns. In Instead, cited research sits inside the tax engine, next to the client.

Q: How reliable is an AI tax research answer?

A: Treat it as a draft. Like every agent output in Instead, an AI tax research answer is a draft for your professional review. Each answer sits beside its sources, so a reviewer can open the authority behind it and read what the agent read before anything goes in the file.