ADVICE ENGINE

摘要

System, method and media for the provision of relevant information, tax regulations and other advice for the preparation of the return to the user of the tax preparation system. This can be done by developing a profile of the taxpayer as the user moves through the process of preparing the tax return. When a user views a tip or help article, the impact on the outcome of the return is noted. If the impact is a positive one, then the tip or help article may be automatically presented to future users with similar taxpayer profiles. In this way, users can maximize the benefit of the return for the taxpayer while increasing the accuracy of the prepared return.

主权项

1. A system for presenting relevant tax information to a user, comprising:
a data store storing a plurality of tax returns and tax information consulted in preparing those returns; a typecasting engine comprising:
a classifier operable to determine a prototype for a tax return being classified based on values of a plurality of indicator variables associated with the tax return being classified; a data import engine, operable to:
import tax data for the taxpayer;download one or more tax forms corresponding to the taxpayer; andbased on at least the tax data and the tax forms, determine one or more values for the plurality of indicator variables associated with the tax return being classified; and a user interface engine operable to present to the user, automatically and without a request from the user, a relevant item of tax information, wherein the relevant item of tax information is determined based on the prototype determined by the classifier.