Systems, methods and articles of manufacture for determining relevancy of tax topics in a tax preparation system

• US 10,296,984 B1
• Filed: 11/26/2014
• Issued: 05/21/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Wang, Gang, McCluskey, Kevin M., Keenan, Jennifer, Tritt, Suzette
• Primary Examiner(s): Niquette, Robert R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Liz P
• Application Number:
  US14/555,553
• Time in Patent Office: 1,637 Days
• Field of Search: 705 31
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/123 Tax preparation or submission

Abstract

Systems, methods and articles of manufacture for determining the relevancy of tax matters to a particular taxpayer and prioritizing the tax matters in a tax preparation system for preparing an electronic tax return. A computerized tax preparation system accesses taxpayer data and generates a taxpayer data profile using the taxpayer data. The system executes at tax logic agent which evaluates missing tax data required to prepare the tax return for the taxpayer and outputs a plurality of suggested tax matters for obtaining the missing tax data to a user interface manager. The tax logic agent utilizes the taxpayer data profile and a tax matter relevancy module having a plurality of tax data profiles to determine a relevancy ranking for each suggested tax matter. A user interface manager receives the suggested tax matters and the corresponding relevancy rankings and determines one or more tax questions to present to the user.

Claims

1. A computing system, comprising:

a computerized tax return preparation application comprising computer executable instructions stored in a memory of a computing device and executable by a processor of the computing device to generate an electronic tax return, the computerized tax return preparation application comprising;

a shared data store configured to store user-specific tax data;

a logic agent in communication with the shared data store;

a relevancy module in communication with the logic agent and comprising a plurality of tax data profiles and a plurality of logic based tax correlations, the tax data profiles including at least one of individual profiles and pre-defined profiles, wherein each individual profile has a plurality of individual attributes and tax related data retrieved from the shared data store for a particular individual wherein each pre-defined profile has a plurality of attributes and tax related data retrieved from the shared data store for a class of individuals, each logic based tax correlation defining a logical correlation between one or more taxpayer attributes and a tax related aspect; and

a user interface controller in communication with the shared data store and the logic agent,

the logic agent being configured to

access the shared data store to determine taxpayer data comprising at least one of personal information of the taxpayer or tax data for the taxpayer,

generate a taxpayer data profile using the taxpayer data,

evaluate missing tax data needed to prepare the electronic tax return,

determine a plurality of suggested tax matters for obtaining the missing tax data,

analyze the taxpayer data profile in relation to the tax data profiles in the relevancy module to determine a relevancy ranking for each of the suggested tax matters, wherein the relevancy ranking is related to a likelihood that the suggested tax matter is relevant to the tax return of the first taxpayer, and

output the plurality of suggested tax matters and corresponding relevancy rankings to the user interface controller;

the user interface controller being configured to

receive the plurality of suggested tax matters for obtaining the evaluated missing tax data and corresponding relevancy rankings,

compare the relevancy rankings corresponding to each of the plurality of suggested tax matters;

select a suggested tax matter corresponding to the highest relevancy ranking from the comparison;

determine one or more questions related to the selected suggested tax matter to present to a user,

generate an interactive interview screen comprising at least one of the one or more determined questions, the interactive interview screen being presentable through a display of the computing device,

receive user input through the interactive interview screen in response to the at least one determined question for obtaining the evaluated missing tax data, and

update the shared data store with the received user input.

2. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the logic agent is configured to analyze the taxpayer data profile in relation to the tax data profiles in the relevancy module to determine a relevancy ranking for each of the suggested tax matters by identifying a population set of tax data profiles which are similar to the taxpayer data profile, computing a population probability of relevancy of each suggested tax matter based on the population set, and utilizing the population probability of each suggested tax matter to compute a relevancy ranking of the respective tax matter.

3. The computing system of claim 1, wherein:

the computerized tax return preparation application, by the logic agent, is configured to;

update the taxpayer data profile and generate an updated taxpayer data profile based at least in part upon the updated data of the shared data store, and

analyze the updated taxpayer data profile in relation to the tax data profiles in the relevancy module to determine a second relevancy ranking for each of a second plurality of suggested tax matters, wherein the second relevancy ranking is related to a likelihood that a suggested tax matter of the second plurality of suggested tax matters is relevant to the electronic tax return and

output the second plurality of suggested tax matters and corresponding relevancy rankings for the second plurality of suggested tax matters to the user interface-controller.

4. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the tax matters are one or more of tax topics, tax questions, declarative statements regarding the electronic tax return or confirmations regarding the electronic tax return.

5. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the tax data profiles comprise individual profiles which are based upon tax data previously filed tax returns.

6. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the tax data profiles comprise pre-defined profiles which are based upon tax data from previously filed tax returns.

7. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the tax data profiles comprise both individual profiles and pre-defined profiles.

8. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the logic agent is configured to access the taxpayer data from a previously filed tax return.

9. The computing system of claim 1, wherein each relevancy ranking is one of an estimate of the probability of relevance, a numerical ranking among the suggested tax matter, or a ranking index.

19. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the user interface controller is configured to modify at least one of a size of a text and an amount of the text within the interactive interview screen based on a type of the computing device.

10. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

storing, by a shared data store of a computerized tax return preparation application, user-specific tax data,

accessing, by a logic agent in communication with the shared data store, the shared data store to determine taxpayer data comprising at least one of personal information of the taxpayer or tax data for a taxpayer, and

generating, by the logic agent, a taxpayer data profile using the taxpayer data,

evaluating, by the logic agent, missing tax data needed to prepare the electronic tax return,

determining, by the logic agent, a plurality of suggested tax matters for obtaining the missing tax data,

analyzing, by the logic agent, the taxpayer data profile in relation to the tax data profiles in the relevancy module to determine a relevancy ranking for each of the suggested tax matters, wherein the relevancy ranking is related to a likelihood that the suggested tax matter is relevant to the tax return of the first taxpayer,

outputting, by the logic agent, the plurality of suggested tax matters and corresponding relevancy rankings to the user interface controller; and

the computing device, by the user interface controller of the computerized tax return preparation application,

receiving, by a user interface controller in communication with the shared data store and the logic agent, the plurality of suggested tax matters for obtaining the evaluated missing tax data and corresponding relevancy rankings,

comparing, by the user interface controller, the relevancy rankings corresponding to each of the plurality of suggested tax matters;

selecting, by the user interface controller, a suggested tax matter corresponding to the highest relevancy ranking from the comparison;

determining, by the user interface controller, one or more questions related to the selected suggested tax matter to present to a user,

generating, by the user interface controller, an interactive interview screen comprising at least one of the one or more determined questions, the interactive interview screen being presentable through a display of a computing device,

receiving, by the user interface controller, user input through the interactive interview screen in response to the at least one determined question for obtaining the evaluated missing tax data, and

updating, by the user interface controller, the shared data store with the received user input.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the logic agent analyzes the taxpayer data profile in relation to the tax data profiles in the relevancy module to determine a relevancy ranking for each of the suggested tax matters by identifying a population set of tax data profiles which are similar to the taxpayer data profile, computing a population probability of relevancy of each suggested tax matter based on the population set, and utilizing the population probability of each suggested tax matter to compute a relevancy ranking of the respective tax matter.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

updating, by the logic agent, the taxpayer data profile and generating an updated taxpayer data profile based at least in part upon the updated data of the shared data store, and

analyzing, by the logic agent, the updated taxpayer data profile in relation to the tax data profiles in the relevancy module and determining a second relevancy ranking for each of a second plurality of suggested tax matters, wherein the second relevancy ranking is related to a likelihood that a suggested tax matter of the second plurality of suggested tax matters is relevant to the electronic tax return, and

outputting, by the logic agent, the second plurality of suggested tax matters and corresponding relevancy rankings for the second plurality of suggested tax matters to the user interface controller.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the tax matters are one or more of tax topics, tax questions, declarative statements regarding the tax return or confirmations regarding the electronic tax return.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the tax data profiles comprise individual profiles which are based upon tax data from previously filed tax returns.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the tax data profiles comprise pre-defined profiles which are based upon tax data from previously filed tax returns.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the tax data profiles comprise both individual profiles and pre-defined profiles.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the first taxpayer data is accessed from a previously filed tax return.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein each relevancy ranking is one of an estimate of the probability of relevance, a numerical ranking among the suggested tax matter, or a ranking index.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein generating the interactive interview screen comprising at least one of the one or more determined questions further comprises:

modifying, by the user interface controller, at least one of a size of a text and an amount of the text within the interactive interview screen based on a type of the computing device.