Set a firm's protocol for AI use in tax work
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Draft the protocol from the tools and the limits the lawyer supplies, including a step for checking facts and citations before anything is sent to the IRS.
- What the lawyer must review
- Check every sentence before the protocol is adopted. Office of Professional Responsibility Issue 2026-19: verify facts, citations and calculations before submission to the IRS. Formal Opinion 512: the practitioner remains responsible for the work. Model Rule 1.6 and 26 U.S.C. § 7525 are separate limits on what may be put into a tool. You decide which tools are allowed. A protocol does not make a public tool confidential.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Potential support includes preparing preliminary structure or wording and identifying points for review. Confirm the tool’s capability and permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Open each relied-on authority independently. Confirm its existence, current status, proposition and any quotation or pinpoint reference.
- Trace every relied-on figure to its source, confirm dates and assumptions, and independently recalculate totals or derived amounts.
- Confirm that the actual tool, feature and processing terms permit use of this information, including access, retention, training and disclosure conditions.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.