Presentation of image of source of tax data through tax preparation application

• US 9,916,626 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2013
• Issued: 03/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Huang, Nankun, Eftekhari, Amir, Howe, Carol A., Tifford, Alan B., Ludwig, Jeffrey P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rankins, William E
• Application Number:
  US13/781,540
• Publication Number:
  US 20140244455A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,839 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/123 Tax preparation or submission
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/00 Image analysis

Abstract

Methods, systems and articles of manufacture for generating interface elements of an electronic tax preparation application to allow a taxpayer or user to view a portion of an image of a tax document that is a source of data for a field of a screen generated by the electronic tax application. The image portion displayed may be a particular box or field of a tax document for a corresponding particular field of the screen generated by the electronic tax preparation or a bounding region including one or more adjacent or surrounding boxes or fields. Embodiments allow taxpayers to view an image of a source document while viewing the data that was entered in the field from within the tax preparation application without having to consult paper copies of the tax documents.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for presentation of an image of a source of tax data through a tax preparation application utilized by a preparer of an electronic tax return, the method comprising:

a computer receiving or acquiring a first image of a tax document and storing the first image to a data store;

the computer, by a processor executing programmed instructions of the computerized tax preparation application operable to prepare an electronic tax return, determining a field or box structure of a type of tax document in the first image, mapping coordinates of the field or box structure to the first image, and encoding a first user interface element with a pointer or reference to coordinates of a portion of the first image;

the computer, by the computerized tax preparation application generating an interview screen or form that is presented through a display of the computer during preparation of the electronic tax return, wherein the interview screen or form includes a plurality of fields that can be populated with respective electronic data and the first user interface element, wherein the first user interface element is associated with a first field and can be selected or activated independently of the first field;

the computerized tax preparation application receiving preparer input comprising selection or activation of the first user interface element during preparation of the electronic tax return, the preparer input indicating a request to view an image of the tax document that is a source of electronic data entered into the first field; and

in response to the received input, the computerized tax preparation application accessing the data store,

identifying in the data store the first image of the tax document that was previously received or acquired and that is the source of the data in the first field,

selecting the portion of the first image based at least in part upon the coordinates of the first image determined from reading the pointer or reference of the first user interface element, and

presenting the selected portion of the first image through the interview screen or form to the preparer simultaneously with the populated first field for a pre-determined time.

2. The method of claim 1, receiving the input comprising receiving input by the preparer manipulating an input element of the computer to select the first interface element of the interview screen or form.

3. The method of claim 2, the input element comprising a computer mouse, the input comprising positioning of a cursor or pointer of the computer mouse by the preparer over the first interface element of the interview screen or form.

4. The method of claim 2, the input element comprising a touchscreen of the computer, the input comprising the preparer contacting the touchscreen at a pre-determined location at which the first interface element of the interview screen or form is displayed.

5. The method of claim 4, the first interface element of the interview screen or form being associated with the pointer or reference to the portion of the first image such that the selected portion of the first image is displayed in response to the preparer contacting the touchscreen at the pre-determined location.

6. The method of claim 1, receiving the input comprising receiving a voice command by the preparer requesting to view the document, the voice command identifying the populated field.

7. The method of claim 1, the first interface element of the interview screen or form being positioned adjacent to the first field populated with the electronic data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the computer, by the computerized tax preparation application:

encoding a second user interface element with a second pointer or reference to coordinates of a second portion of the first image different from the first portion of the first image, wherein the second user interface element is associated with a second field of the interview screen or form, and the second user interface element can be selected or activated independently of the second field;

receiving a second input by the preparer comprising selection of the second user interface element during preparation of the electronic tax return, the second input comprising a second request to view an image of the tax document that is the source of electronic data entered into the second field, wherein the source of the electronic data in the second field is the same as the source of data in the first field; and

in response to the received second input, the computerized tax preparation application

selecting the second portion of the first image based at least in part upon the coordinates of the first image determined from reading the second pointer or reference of the second user interface element, and

presenting the selected second portion of the first image through the interview screen or form to the preparer simultaneously with the populated second field for a pre-determined time.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising

the computer receiving or acquiring a second image of a second tax document and storing the second to the data store;

the computer, by the computerized tax preparation application, determining a second field or box structure of a type of the second tax document in the second image, mapping coordinates of the second field or box structure to the second image, and encoding a second user interface element with a pointer or reference to coordinates of a portion of the second image, wherein the second user interface element is associated with a second field of the interview screen or form, and wherein the second user interface element can be selected or activated independently of the second field;

the computer, by the tax return preparation application, receiving a second input by the preparer comprising selection of the second user interface element of the interview screen or form, wherein the source of data in the second field is the second document; and

in response to the received second input, the computerized tax preparation application accessing the data store,

identifying in the data store the second image of the second document that is the source of the data in the second field, wherein the second image of the second document is different from the first image of the first document,

selecting a portion of the second image based at least in part upon the coordinates of the second image determined from reading the pointer or reference of the second user interface element, and

presenting the selected portion of the second image through the interview screen or form to the preparer simultaneously with the populated second field.

10. The method of claim 1, the first image being received after the first image of the document has been processed by optical character recognition to determine electronic data to populate the first field.

11. The method of claim 1, the first image being received from another computer that processed the first image of the tax document by optical character recognition.

12. The method of claim 1, the selected portion of the first image having data consisting of the same data within the first field of the interview screen or form that is the subject of the preparer'"'"'s request.

13. The method of claim 1, the selected portion of the first image comprising a bounding region, the bounding region of the image comprising:

data within the field of the interview screen or form that is the subject of the preparer'"'"'s request, and

at least one additional type of data that was not the subject of the preparer'"'"'s request.

14. The method of claim 13, the at least one additional type of data that was not the subject of the preparer'"'"'s request comprising data within a field or box that is adjacent to the first field or box of the tax document that was the subject of the preparer'"'"'s request.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected portion of the first image is presented by a zooming effect of zooming from a first portion of the first image to a second portion of the first image that is smaller than the first portion.

16. The method of claim 15, the second portion of the first image comprising a box or field of the document containing tax data, the first portion of the image comprising a bounding region comprising a single box or field of the tax document and at least one adjacent box or field of the tax document containing other tax data.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the zooming effect is executed automatically by the computerized tax preparation application.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the zooming effect is executed automatically after a pre-determined time.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the zooming effect is executed by the computerized tax preparation application in response to user input requesting the zooming effect.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium tangibly embodying one or more sequences of instructions wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors contained in one or more computing systems causes the one or more computing systems to present an imaged source of a document of the tax data to a preparer of an electronic tax return according to the method of claim 1.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of the tax document in the first image is determined by the computerized tax preparation application:

transforming the first image into segments;

accessing a database of tax document templates;

performing a comparison of image segments and structural attributes of tax document templates; and

identifying a tax document template that matches the first image based at least in part upon the comparison.