In testing · early access open

UK tax answers in plain English — with the source for every point

The TaxStats AI Tax Researcher is being built to answer your tax and company questions from HMRC guidance, UK tax legislation and Companies House — and to link you to the page each answer comes from, so you can check it yourself.

  • Official UK sources only
  • A link to the source for every point
  • Says “not covered” instead of guessing

We use your email only to tell you when the researcher opens to you. General guidance with sources, not personal tax advice — verify before relying.

General guidance with sources, not personal tax advice — verify before relying. The researcher can't know the full facts of your situation. For advice on your own affairs, speak to an accountant — ours can help.

What is the TaxStats AI Tax Researcher?

The TaxStats AI Tax Researcher is a UK tax and accounting research tool for business owners. You ask a question in plain English and it answers only from official UK sources — HMRC guidance and manuals, UK tax legislation and Companies House guidance — with a link to the exact page each point comes from. When the sources do not cover a question, it says so instead of guessing.

It is in testing now, against UK tax questions written by the accountants in the TaxStats practice. It opens once it clears the quality bar below.

How will it answer a tax question?

General AI chatbots answer from memory, which is how they end up quoting thresholds that changed years ago or HMRC references that don't exist. The researcher is built the other way round: the source comes first.

  1. Step 1

    Ask in plain English

    Type the question the way you would ask an accountant — your turnover, your year end, what you bought. No tax vocabulary needed.

  2. Step 2

    It searches official sources only

    HMRC guidance and manuals, UK tax legislation and Companies House guidance — more than 14,000 pages, kept up to date as the law changes. Not the AI model’s memory.

  3. Step 3

    Every point links to its source

    Each part of the answer links to the exact page it comes from, so you can go straight to HMRC’s own words.

  4. Step 4

    It says when it doesn’t know

    If the sources don’t cover your question, it tells you so — and where to look — rather than guessing.

What does an answer look like?

Short, specific to what you told it, and with the sources underneath — so the answer is something you can check, not something you have to trust.

Questions it is being tested on:

  • Do I need to register for VAT?
  • When is my confirmation statement due?
  • Can I claim working from home as a business expense?
  • What rate of Corporation Tax will my company pay?
  • Do I need to file a Self Assessment tax return?
  • Can my company pay me through dividends instead of salary?
Illustration written by our team to show the answer format, using the 2026/27 VAT rules

My turnover is about £85,000 a year. Do I need to register for VAT?

Not yet, but keep checking it every month. You must register when your VAT taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period — not the tax year or your financial year. Taxable turnover is your sales, not your profit.1

You also have to register straight away if you expect your turnover to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days on its own — a single large contract, for example.1

If you go over, you have 30 days from the end of that month to register, and you are registered from the first day of the second month after.2

Sources

  1. 1. GOV.UK — VAT registration: when to register
  2. 2. HMRC — Who should register for VAT (VAT Notice 700/1)

General guidance with sources, not personal tax advice — verify before relying.

Which sources does it use?

More than 14,000 pages of official UK material, refreshed as HMRC updates its guidance and each Finance Act changes the law.

HMRC guidance on GOV.UK

The guidance HMRC publishes for businesses and individuals: VAT, Corporation Tax, PAYE, Self Assessment, CIS, Capital Gains Tax and more.

HMRC internal manuals

The manuals HMRC’s own staff work from — the detail behind the guidance, down to the paragraph.

UK tax legislation

The Taxes Acts and Finance Acts on legislation.gov.uk, including the Finance Act 2026.

Companies House and the Companies Act 2006

Filing deadlines, confirmation statements, accounts formats and the small and micro-entity exemptions.

Related official UK guidance

Revenue Scotland, the Information Commissioner’s Office and Acas, for the questions that sit next to tax.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

How do we know the answers are right?

TaxStats is an accounting practice as well as a software company. Our accountants write the questions the researcher is tested against — including a separate set covering every key deadline, threshold, rate and filing trigger, where the only acceptable number of errors is zero.

It opens to the public only when it clears this bar.

The bar it must clear

  • Every citation opens the page it names
  • At least 95% of citations support the point they are attached to
  • At least 90% of answers are correct
  • No errors on deadlines, thresholds, rates and filing triggers
  • At least 90% of out-of-scope questions answered “not covered”

From an answer to the return itself

The researcher is being built into the TaxStats Platform, so once you know what you need to do you can do it in the same place: bookkeeping and MTD VAT returns ready to file, and Corporation Tax computations and year-end accounts prepared for Companies House.

See the Business plans Pricing — from £29 a month

AI Tax Researcher — questions answered

What is the TaxStats AI Tax Researcher?
The TaxStats AI Tax Researcher is a UK tax and accounting research tool for business owners. You ask a question in plain English and it answers only from official UK sources — HMRC guidance and manuals, UK tax legislation and Companies House guidance — with a link to the exact page each point comes from. When the sources do not cover a question, it says so instead of guessing.
Is it available now?
Not yet. The researcher is being tested against UK tax questions written by the accountants in the TaxStats practice, and it opens only once it clears the quality bar shown on this page. Join early access and we will email you when it opens to you.
Where do the answers come from?
Only from official UK sources the researcher has loaded: HMRC guidance and manuals, UK tax legislation on legislation.gov.uk and Companies House guidance — more than 14,000 pages. It does not answer from the AI model’s own memory, and each point carries a link to the page it comes from.
What happens if it does not know the answer?
It says the question is not covered by its sources and suggests where to look or who to ask. A confident wrong answer is the worst outcome for a tax question, so “not covered” is part of how it is tested.
Is it tax advice?
No. Every answer is general guidance with sources, not personal tax advice. It cannot know the full facts of your situation, so check the linked source before relying on an answer. If you want advice on your own affairs, the accountants in the TaxStats practice can help.
Who is it for?
UK business owners and company directors who look after their own tax and accounts: sole traders, landlords and limited companies. A version for practising accountants comes later.
Does it cover accounting standards like FRS 102?
Not at launch. Accounting standards are copyright material, so they will be cited by paragraph reference rather than reproduced, in a later version aimed at accountants.
What does it cost?
There will be a free allowance so you can try it. Unlimited use will be part of the TaxStats Business plans — Starter £29, Business £49 and Business Pro £79 a month — which already include bookkeeping and MTD VAT returns ready to file, and from the Business plan up, Corporation Tax computations and year-end accounts prepared for Companies House.

Be first to try it

Join early access and tell us the question you'd ask first. We'll email you when the researcher opens to you.

We use your email only to tell you when the researcher opens to you. General guidance with sources, not personal tax advice — verify before relying.