Tax Return Analysis for Benefit Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Individuals often miss out on eligible employee and government benefits due to lack of awareness, as information about these benefits is not well publicized and there is no easy method for determining which benefits they qualify for.
Innovation Solution
A computerized system that analyzes tax returns to identify external entities, such as employers, and determines potential benefits by comparing trends in reported benefits across similar entities, then recommends these benefits to the taxpayer with minimal user interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If benefit information is provided in employment manuals or through traditional communication channels, then employers can offer benefits to employees, but employees are unaware of these benefits due to lack of accessibility and visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a tax preparation system as an intermediary that automatically accesses benefit information from employers and delivers it to employees during tax filing. This intermediary system bridges the gap between employers who offer benefits and employees who need to know about them, transforming unaccessible employment manual information into easily accessible tax-form-integrated information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables employees to automatically receive benefit information without actively seeking it. During the tax preparation process, the system automatically retrieves benefit data from employer records and presents it to the employee, allowing them to self-serve their own benefit information needs without requiring employers to actively communicate or employees to search through manuals.
2Adaptability or versatility
If employers offer various benefits to employees, then employee compensation packages are enhanced, but employees cannot easily determine which benefits they qualify for
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by automatically comparing employee tax return data with employer benefit offerings and eligibility criteria. The system processes employee income, family status, and other tax information, then feeds back determined benefit eligibility directly to the employee through the tax preparation interface, eliminating the need for employees to manually determine their qualifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and pre-presenting benefit eligibility information to employees before they file their taxes. By analyzing tax return data in advance and determining which benefits the employee qualifies for, the system prepares benefit information proactively, allowing employees to make informed decisions about their tax returns and benefit utilization ahead of time.
3Loss of information
If detailed benefit information is made widely available, then employee awareness of benefits increases, but the complexity of benefit management systems increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the universal tax preparation system to deliver benefit information, rather than creating a separate dedicated benefit communication system. The tax software serves multiple functions: traditional tax calculation, benefit information delivery, eligibility determination, and employee education. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity by consolidating benefit management within an existing universal platform that employees already use annually.
Data Source
AI summary
Potential benefits that may be applicable to a taxpayer are identified based upon other tax returns for other similar taxpayers, specifically based upon a common external entity that may provide or be associated with the benefit. Identified potential benefits are then recommended to the user. Steps may include receiving a set of taxpayer information related, at least in part, to a subject tax return of the subject taxpayer; identifying an external entity identified on the subject tax return; analyzing a filed return data store to determine benefits reported on tax returns that are indicative of the external entity; identifying a potential benefit associated with the external entity; determining an estimated criterion for the potential benefit; determining whether the subject taxpayer is likely eligible for the potential benefit, based upon the estimated criterion and the set of taxpayer information; and recommending the potential benefit to the subject taxpayer.