SIMPLIFIED SCREENING FOR PREDICTING ERRORS IN TAX RETURNS
First Claim
1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon for providing an error score for a taxpayer'"'"'s previously filed tax return, wherein the computer program instructs at least one processing element to perform the steps of:
- generating a questionnaire predictive of at least one error generally associated with tax returns filed with a government taxing authority;
presenting, to a user, the questionnaire for input by the user of at least one response indicative of a tax history of the taxpayer;
receiving an input, from the user, of at least one response;
providing, to a prediction engine, the at least one response received from the user; and
receiving, from the prediction engine, an error score for the taxpayer'"'"'s previously filed tax return based on the at least one response received from the user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to predicting the likelihood of an error in a previously filed tax return. In particular, a set of screening questions is presented to a user that correlate to set of risk factors for an erroneous return. Based on the responses to the screening questions, a likelihood of error and an expected magnitude of error are calculated. Based on the likelihood of error and the expected magnitude of error, an error score and a recommendation of whether to re-prepare and refile an amended tax return is presented.
92 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon for providing an error score for a taxpayer'"'"'s previously filed tax return, wherein the computer program instructs at least one processing element to perform the steps of:
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generating a questionnaire predictive of at least one error generally associated with tax returns filed with a government taxing authority; presenting, to a user, the questionnaire for input by the user of at least one response indicative of a tax history of the taxpayer; receiving an input, from the user, of at least one response; providing, to a prediction engine, the at least one response received from the user; and receiving, from the prediction engine, an error score for the taxpayer'"'"'s previously filed tax return based on the at least one response received from the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for providing an error score for a taxpayer'"'"'s previously filed tax return, comprising:
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at least one data store storing a first set of tax-related data known to be associated with erroneous returns; a prediction engine comprising; a statistical analyzer, operable to receive data from the data store and generate a questionnaire, and an error score calculator associated with the questionnaire; at least one display operable to display the questionnaire and an output of the prediction engine; an input device, operable to receive a user'"'"'s responses to the questionnaire and pass the responses to the error score calculator; and wherein the error score calculator calculates an error score based on the user'"'"'s responses to the questionnaire. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of predicting an error in a previously filed tax return, comprising the steps of:
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receiving tax-related data associated with a plurality of erroneous tax returns; compiling, based on the tax-related data associated with the plurality of erroneous returns, a plurality of indicators indicating an increased likelihood of error in an associated tax return; generating, by a prediction engine, a questionnaire based on at least a portion of the plurality of indicators and an error score calculator associated with the questionnaire; presenting the questionnaire to a user; receiving tax-related data from the user responsive to the questionnaire; passing the tax-related received from the user data to the prediction engine; receiving from the prediction engine an error score for a tax return associated with the tax-related data received from the user; and presenting to the user a recommendation as to preparing an amended return based on the error score. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification