AI Tax Research in DynaTax AI
Ask a tax question in plain English and get a written analysis with citations to primary authority — then narrow it by source and tax year, save the session, and export it to PDF for the engagement file.
What AI Tax Research Is
Tax Research is a research assistant built for licensed tax professionals. You type a question the way you would ask a colleague — “IRC §199A deduction aggregation rules for partnerships” — and DynaTax AI returns a structured written answer alongside a list of legal citations you can open and check.
Before the AI writes anything, DynaTax AI searches an index of tax authority and feeds the passages it finds into the answer. That grounding step is what produces citations tied to real source material rather than a free-form chat reply. Answers are written for a practitioner audience: statutory basis, regulatory guidance, practical application, compliance requirements, planning opportunities, and risk.
Where to Find It
In the professional portal, open Tax Researchin the left sidebar — it's a top-level item of its own, sitting just above Community. The screen opens on a card titled Professional Tax Research, with a question box at the bottom and your saved research sessions along the side.
Asking a Question
Open Tax Research
The first time you use the feature you'll be asked to accept a consent notice covering AI-assisted research (see Consent & Privacy Safeguards). You may also be prompted to re-verify your identity before a query runs.
Set your tax years (optional)
Open Filtersand tick the tax years you're researching. The current year is selected by default, and years are labelled Current and Upcomingso you don't accidentally research a year that hasn't happened yet.
Type your question and press Enter
The box reads “Ask a professional tax research question…”. Press Enter to send; use Shift + Enterfor a new line. If you're not sure where to start, the empty screen offers example questions — click one and it drops straight into the box.
Read the answer, then open the citations
The written analysis appears first, with a Legal Citations panel underneath listing each authority the answer relies on.
Ask follow-up questions in the same session — the conversation stays together and exports as a single research file.
Citations and Sources
Every answer carries a Legal Citations panel with a count. Each citation card shows the title, the source type, and — where applicable — the specific section and the tax year it applies to. Two buttons sit on each card:
- View — opens the underlying source in a new tab. Internal Revenue Code sections and IRS material link out to the official or public text of the authority. The button only appears when a link can be resolved for that citation.
- Copy — copies the citation as
Title (Source)so you can paste it into a memo or workpaper.
Which Authorities Are Covered
The research index covers primary and official secondary tax authority. In the Filters panel you can restrict a query to any combination of:
- Internal Revenue Code
- Treasury Regulations
- IRS Publications
- Revenue Rulings
- Revenue Procedures
- Tax Court cases
- Legislation
- IRS Internal Revenue Manual (examination procedures)
Leave every box blank to search across all of them. Citations are returned in standard practitioner form — IRC §162(a), Treas. Reg. §1.162-1(a), Rev. Rul. 2024-1, Rev. Proc. 2024-34, IRS Pub. 535, and case citations such as Golsen v. Commissioner, 54 T.C. 742 (1970).
Filters, Sessions & History
Query filters
The Filters panel holds two cards: Source types and Tax years. The panel header summarises what's active (for example, “All sources” plus the number of years selected), and a Clear Filtersbutton appears once you've picked at least one source.
Research sessions
Every question you ask is saved to a session. Open Sessions to see your list, each row showing the message count and date. From there you can:
- New session — start a clean line of research without losing the previous one.
- Rename a session — click the title and type. Sessions are named automatically from your first question, which is rarely the name you want in a file.
- Remove a session — the trash icon takes it off your list. As the panel notes, the underlying record is retained for audit purposes.
Exporting an Answer
Once a session has at least one answer, an Export button appears in the header with three formats:
- Markdown (.md) — professional format with a table of contents.
- Plain Text (.txt) — research paper format.
- PDF Report — publication-ready format.
What's in the PDF
The PDF is built for the engagement file, not for the screen. It includes:
- A cover page with a research-information panel: date of research, tax years analysed, number of research questions, total legal citations, and the research session ID.
- An executive summary, and a table of contents for multi-question sessions.
- A research analysis section reproducing each question, the analysis, and the legal authority relied on.
- A references & legal citations section, grouped by authority type (Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, IRS publications and guidance, and additional authority).
- A research methodology section and a closing disclaimer, with numbered pages throughout.
Generating the PDF takes a moment — the menu item switches to Generating PDF… while it builds, then downloads automatically.
Monthly Query Limits
AI research queries are metered per month. A chip in the header shows what you have left — for example “12 of 20 queries” — and turns amber, then red, as you approach zero. The allowance resets at the start of the next calendar month.
| Professional plan | AI research allowance |
|---|---|
| Free Trial | 1 AI research query per month |
| Solo Pro | 20 AI research queries per seat, per month |
| Firm Plan | 20 AI research queries per seat, per month |
On the per-seat plans the allowance is pooled across the firm: the monthly total is the per-seat number multiplied by your active seats, so a five-seat firm shares 100 queries a month rather than capping each person at 20.
Consent & Privacy Safeguards
Because research questions can touch client information, DynaTax AI puts several safeguards in front of the feature:
- Consent under IRC §7216. The first time you use Tax Research you accept a consent notice on behalf of your firm and its clients.
- Identity re-verification. You may be asked to confirm your identity before a query runs.
- Sensitive identifiers are stripped automatically.Social Security numbers, EINs, and account numbers are removed from a question before it is processed — but don't paste them in the first place; they are never needed to answer a question of law.
- Transcripts are encrypted at rest. Your questions and the answers are stored encrypted.
Verify Before You Advise
Practical habits that keep the output defensible:
- Open every citation. Confirm the section number, the subsection, and that the text actually says what the answer says it says.
- Check currency.Confirm the authority is still in force for the tax year at issue and hasn't been superseded, amended, or overruled.
- Watch the weight of authority. Private letter rulings, for example, are not precedential; IRS publications are guidance, not law.
- Apply the facts yourself.The answer is a general analysis. The client's specific facts, elections, and prior positions are yours to weigh.
- Document your review. Export the session to PDF and note in the workpaper what you independently verified.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my clients use Tax Research?
No. Tax Research lives in the professional portal only. Clients have their own AI Assistant in the client portal, which is a different feature.
Does a follow-up question count against my allowance?
Yes — each question you send is one query, whether it starts a new session or continues an existing one. Reading, renaming, and exporting sessions are free.
What happens if I delete a research session?
It disappears from your session list. As the Sessions panel notes, the record itself is retained for audit purposes, so deleting a session does not restore queries to your monthly allowance.
Why did my answer come back without the citation I expected?
The answer is grounded in what the search returns for your question and filters. If you filtered to a narrow set of source types, widen it — or clear the filters entirely — and rephrase the question with the section number you have in mind.
Can I give the export to a client?
Treat the export as an internal workpaper. It carries a notice that the report is general tax law analysis, not personalized tax advice, and that all research should be verified against primary sources and current IRS guidance. If you want to share conclusions with a client, write them up yourself over your own name.