Editorial standards

Primary sources first. Useful interpretation second.

Tax rules change by year, jurisdiction and legal status. Our process is designed to keep those distinctions visible while using AI to make a small specialist newsroom more capable.

01 · Sources

Start with the controlling material

IRS, Treasury, statutes, courts and state tax agencies take priority. Secondary sources can add context but do not replace primary authority when a material tax claim can be checked directly.

02 · Status

Proposal is not law

We distinguish enacted law, proposed rules, final rules, agency guidance and commentary. Effective dates and tax years belong close to the claim they govern.

03 · Added value

Do more than summarize

An article should add a calculation, timing issue, rule interaction, state comparison, decision framework or other useful insight beyond paraphrasing the source document.

04 · Review

Accuracy before personality

Material thresholds, dates, forms and examples are checked against primary sources. External AI or human review may be used, but proposed corrections are independently verified before adoption.

05 · AI workflow

AI assistance is part of the newsroom

TaxWaypoint uses AI for monitoring, research, drafting, editing, classification and workflow. Model confidence is never treated as evidence, and technical claims still have to trace back to reliable sources.

06 · Bylines

Consistent beats without invented credentials

TaxWaypoint uses editorial personas to keep reporting beats and voices consistent. They are not given fabricated professional credentials, client histories, interviews or lived experiences.

What we check before publication

A draft must be technically supportable, add something useful beyond the source material, avoid mechanical AI-style writing and fit the assigned writer's editorial role. If a page would add nothing beyond an IRS or state-agency page, it is not ready.

Corrections and updates

Tax content can become stale. Evergreen guides are intended to carry a tax year or effective period, a last-verified date and primary sources. When controlling guidance changes, affected pages should be reviewed rather than silently left in place.

Advice boundary

TaxWaypoint provides general educational information, not individualized tax, legal or accounting advice. Articles can explain options and trade-offs, but a reader's facts may change the result.