How our guides are written and kept current.

This site publishes plain-language guides on federal and Massachusetts tax, bookkeeping, payroll and nonprofit compliance. Getting those details wrong costs readers money, so this page sets out how the guides are sourced, dated, corrected and retired.

What this policy covers

The guides under Resources, the tax resolution guide, the year-end checklist and the comparison lists under Guides.

The older articles in the Learning Center are different. They came from our previous website platform's content library, and many describe the rules for an earlier tax year. They are being reviewed one by one: each will be updated, combined with a current guide, or removed. Until an article has been through that review, treat its figures and deadlines as historical.

Sources

A rule is stated from its primary source: the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury regulations, IRS forms, instructions and publications, Massachusetts General Laws, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, and the Attorney General's Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division. The source is linked on the page that relies on it. Other firms' articles, forums and summaries are not used as the basis for a rule.

Dates, tax years and jurisdiction

• Where a page quotes a figure, such as a threshold, rate, fee or deadline, it states the date the figure was last checked against its source.
• Figures that apply to one tax year are labelled with that year, and a rule that differs between federal and Massachusetts law is described separately for each.
• A page's date changes only when its content does. Rebuilding or redesigning the website does not make a page newer, and we do not present it that way.

Review

A page shows a named reviewer only after that person has reviewed it. No page on this site claims a review it has not had, and a page without a reviewer line has not yet been through a named professional review. Pages are reviewed in order of risk, starting with those that carry deadlines, thresholds and worked examples.

Keeping pages current

• Every page carrying dated figures is rechecked each January, when the new tax-year amounts are published.
• IRS interest rates are rechecked each quarter.
• A page is also rechecked when the IRS or Massachusetts announces a change that affects it, rather than waiting for the next scheduled check.

When a rule ends

When a program closes or a rule is replaced, the page that described it is rewritten for the current rule, redirected to the page that now covers the subject, or removed. An expired rule is not left online looking current.

Comparison lists

The lists under Guides are written by this practice, and Murphy places itself first. Each list says so at the top. Other firms are described only from their own websites, checked on the date shown on the list, and we have no business relationship with any of them.

Corrections

If you find an error or an out-of-date figure, email dmurphy@murphyaccounting.com or call (508) 205-7333 with the page address and what looks wrong. A confirmed error is corrected, and the page's checked date is updated with it.

General information, not advice

The guides explain how rules work in general. How a rule applies to you depends on facts a web page cannot know, so reading a guide does not create a client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own return or organization.