CereTax launches SmartResearch for cited AI tax answers

CereTax said Nov. 5 it has made SmartResearch generally available, giving tax and finance teams AI answers on sales and use tax that stay inside primary law and the company’s own researcher determinations. The launch adds cited, jurisdiction-specific research tools as tax teams look for faster ways to verify taxability, rates and effective dates.

Why it matters: - CereTax is targeting a hard problem in tax operations: fast answers that still trace back to primary law. - SmartResearch is designed to help tax and finance teams verify whether a product or service is taxable, under what tax, at what rate and as of which date. - The product aims to reduce the risk of relying on uncited or open-web AI output.

What happened: - CereTax announced general availability of CereTax SmartResearch on Nov. 5, 2026. - The launch covers AI research for sales and use tax. - SmartResearch is available today, and CereTax is directing users to request a demo at CereTax SmartResearch.

The details: - SmartResearch uses two sources: CereTax researchers’ determinations and the primary law text CereTax stores word for word. - The models do not search the open web. - Multiple models must agree on a cited answer. - A separate check tests the answer against the same sources. - The system draws on hundreds of thousands of law documents, versions of primary law and researcher-authored determinations. - Answers are designed to show what the law said as of the date in question. - SmartResearch includes seven modules. - Taxability Answers provides cited answers to taxability questions. - Matrix Builder creates taxability matrices across products and jurisdictions and can export them. - Nexus covers economic nexus rules by state with cited law. - Tax Rates pulls rates from the engine that calculates the tax, down to the rooftop. - Rate Files offers downloadable tax rate files in the coverage and format each team chooses, with sales and use rates in separate columns. - Pulse delivers daily briefings on legislative, court and agency changes based on what each user follows. - Library contains the forms and primary law text behind every citation.

Between the lines: - CereTax is packaging research, calculation and exemption management around one shared content set. - SmartResearch, SmartExempt and the company’s calculation engine now use one record behind every answer. - The company is betting that tax teams will pay for AI only if the workflow stays auditable and source-based. - Mike Sanders, co-founder and CEO of CereTax, said the company is keeping AI inside the law and its researchers’ determinations so teams can verify an answer before acting on it.

What else to know: - SmartExempt was CereTax’s first AI product. - CereTax says SmartResearch is its most complete AI result so far. - The company plans to keep building on the platform. - CereTax was founded in 2021 in Alpharetta, Georgia, by Mike Sanders, who co-founded SureTax and Tax Partners, LLC. - CereTax says it serves more than 200 customers, works with more than 100 partners and integrates with platforms that move more than $4 trillion in transactions each year. - The company also offers API-first sales and use tax calculation, procure-to-pay use tax automation, and SmartExempt.

The bottom line: - CereTax is trying to make AI tax research useful by constraining it to cited primary law and the company’s own determinations, not the open internet.