How Immer answers a question
The same steps sit behind every answer. They are what lets an answer show where each fact comes from — and what makes it say so when it cannot.
1. It searches the catalogue first
Before anything is written, the question is searched against the reviewed catalogue of official publications — by meaning and by exact words, form codes and line numbers. What the model remembers from its training is not treated as a source. If the first search is not enough, it searches again with a narrower question.
2. It asks when the answer depends on it
When the answer turns on the province, the tax year, or whether someone is employed or self-employed, it asks back with options to click, instead of answering every case at once. A client profile answers many of these questions before they are asked. On a general question — "what is the GST?" — it answers straight away.
3. It answers briefly, with a source on every fact
- A short answer first, with what to do in bold; the full reasoning one click away.
- Every fact carries a numbered citation to the document it came from, with the document's date. A citation into a PDF opens it at the right page.
- It answers in the language of the question — English, Ukrainian or Polish. Form names, line numbers and quotations stay in English, as they are printed.
4. It says when the catalogue does not cover a question
It answers "This is not in the reviewed knowledge base." and says what is missing and where to look — a CRA page, the CRA itself or a specialist. It does not fill the gap with a guess. Quebec's own returns and taxes, US returns, court decisions and accounting standards are outside the catalogue by design.
5. It checks every figure
Every amount, rate and threshold in an answer is checked on the server against the cited passages, your own documents, your message, or a calculation shown on screen. A figure it cannot trace is flagged in the answer, so you know which number to check first.
6. It stays current — with a person in the loop
Every week the publishers are checked for changed documents, and changes are compared by their text, so a redesigned web page is not mistaken for a new rule. A person reads what changed and approves it; only then does the new version become citable. Earlier editions stay, because a 2024 guide is still the right one for a 2024 return. See the changes log and what the catalogue holds.
7. It masks client identifiers before anything leaves the server
Social insurance numbers, business numbers, card and bank account numbers are masked on the server in Montreal before a question, a document or a note is sent to the AI model or stored. Photos are read on that server and never sent. Details in the privacy policy.
Questions
- Can it still be wrong?
- Yes. It is an AI model writing from the passages it found, and it can misread one. That is why every fact shows its source, every figure is checked, and a figure it cannot trace is flagged. Open the source before you rely on an answer.
- How is this different from asking a general AI chat?
- A general chat answers from what it remembers and cannot show you where a rule is written. Immer answers only from official documents it has just searched, cites each one with its date, and says so when they do not cover the question.
Have a question this page does not answer?
Ask Immer. It searches the same official publications, cites each one with its date, and says so when they do not cover your question.