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Updated

Blue J answers questions about US Federal Tax and Canadian Income Tax depending on the database you have selected, and does not contain state and local tax (US SALT) or Excise Tax Act (CA) information yet, though we expect to start launching some states by the end of 2024. 

A prompt is a specific input or query provided to a generative AI system to elicit a relevant response. It is a carefully crafted question or statement designed to guide the system in retrieving and generating the desired information.

There are 3 basic components of an effective prompt:

  • Clarity: Clear and unambiguous language is critical.
  • Context: Provide enough background information to guide the system to the correct documents.
  • Specificity: Focus on precise aspects to get targeted information.

Here are a few prompts you can use in Ask Blue J to try it out: 

  • What are the rules for determining the allocation of consideration received in an applicable asset acquisition?

Blue J is conversational, so you can ask follow-up questions to get into more detail on your research, or ask Blue to format the output in a different way to expedite your drafting. For example, you can ask Blue J to go deeper: 

  • Provide more detail on the rules for allocation of consideration
  • Is there any Tax Notes commentary on this?
  • List cases that discuss the allocation of consideration

Or you can Blue J to get the format and output you want: 

  • Put this into a brief client email for a non-tax professional
  • Write this in bullet points

We often see three different areas of question types: 

  1. Research
    1. Get answers to specific tax questions
    2. Get explanations of tax concepts and rules
    3. Clarify rules given the context of a tax situation
  2. Drafting
    1. Turn research threads into client emails: “Draft this into a simple and short email to client”
    2. Re-format as bullet points: “Summarize into bullet points”
    3. Draft with less technical language: “Revise the answer using less technical language”
  3. Presentation Slide Layout
    1. Turn research threads into presentation outlines (slide by slide layout): “Turn this into a presentation”

Watch this quick video tutorial to see Blue J in action for more help.

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