System for use-tax determination

Abstract

This invention relates to computer-implemented tax preparation and tax submission accounting, and the invention is directed to providing a system which enables use-tax accrual and determination. The described computer system has transaction record acquisition logic for acquiring transaction information characterizing purchases of goods and services and for generating transaction records; use-tax accrual logic; and tax rate acquisition logic for acquiring tax jurisdiction codes, at least one inclusive accounting group registry respective to taxes, and tax information respective to the tax jurisdiction codes from an external tax information source. The invention also provides data alignment logic used to assure that data elements used in tax determination are interactively harmonious and mutually comprehensive. The invention also provides (1) update logic for periodically acquiring new tax information from a tax rate database to keep tax rate information in a current and relevant condition and (2) sales tax crediting logic in the computer so that paid sales taxes can be credited to accrued use-taxes.

We claim: 
     
       1. An apparatus for determining accrued use-taxes, comprising: a computer;   transaction record acquisition logic in said computer for acquiring transaction information characterizing purchases of goods and services, and for generating transaction records;   use-tax accrual logic in said computer linked to said transaction records; said accrual logic having an enumerated liability account for holding a listed set of said records, and said logic further having an accrual liability account for holding a single valoue representing the cumulative impact of said listed set on said use-taxes; and   tax rate acquisition logic in said computer for acquiring tax jurisdiction codes, at least one inclusive accounting group registry respective to taxes, and tax information respective to said tax jurisdiction codes for a plurality of state jurisdictions, and for generating a data schema linked to said use-tax accrual logic having first data elements descriptive of inclusive accounting group registries, second data elements descriptive of tax jurisdiction codes, and third data elements descriptive of tax data respective to said tax jurisdiction codes, said third data elements having a data type for holding a multiple set of taxable percentages for a cost object so that a plurality of use-tax values may be generated from said listed set with each value having its respective taxable percentage basis retained in said data schema.   
     
     
       2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said tax rate acquisition logic further comprises logic for acquiring excluded accounting group registries and said data schema further comprises fourth data elements descriptive of said excluded accounting group registries. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are arranged in tables of said data schema. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising data alignment logic in said computer which is used to determine if any of said first, second, and third data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in said use-tax accrual logic for a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising data alignment logic in said computer which is used to determine if any of said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in said use-tax accrual logic for a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising transaction record extraction logic in said computer used to read said transaction records, parse and selectively extract data necessary for defining said accrued use-taxes, and write the extracted data into a transaction data file, wherein said use-tax accrual logic is linked to said transaction data file and to said enumerated liability account so that said listed set can be constructed from said transaction data file. 
     
     
       7. An apparatus for determining accrued use-taxes, said apparatus having a network linkage communicating to a periodically modified tax rate database, comprising: a computer;   transaction record acquisition logic in said computer for acquiring transaction information characterizing purchases of goods and services, and for generating transaction records;   use-tax accrual logic in said computer linked to said transaction records, said accrual logic having an enumerated liability account for holding a listed set of said records, and said logic further having an accrual liability account for holding a single value representing the cumulative impact of said listed set on said use-taxes;   tax rate acquisition logic in said computer for acquiring tax jurisdiction codes, at least one inclusive accounting group registry respective to taxes, and tax information respective to said tax jurisdiction codes for a plurality of state jurisdictions, and for generating a data schema linked to said use-tax accrual logic having first data elements descriptive of inclusive accounting group registries, second data elements descriptive of tax jurisdiction codes, and third data elements descriptive of tax data respective to said tax jurisdiction codes, said third data elements having a data type for holding a multiple set of taxable percentages for a cost object so that a plurality of use-tax values may be generated from said listed set with each value having its respective taxable percentage basis retained in said data schema; and   tax rate update logic in said computer linked to said data schema and to said tax rate database for periodically acquiring new tax information from said tax rate database to replace respective third data elements.   
     
     
       8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said tax rate acquisition logic further comprises logic for acquiring data elements excluded accounting group registries, and said data schema further comprises fourth data elements descriptive of said excluded accounting group registries. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are arranged in tables of said data schema. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising data alignment logic in said computer which is used to determine if any of said first, second, and third data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in said use-tax accrual logic for a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising data alignment logic in said computer which is used to determine if any of said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in said use-tax accrual logic for a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising transaction record extraction logic used to read said transaction records, parse and selectively extract data necessary for defining said accrued use-taxes, and write the extracted data into a transaction data file, wherein said use-tax accrual logic is linked to said transaction data file and to said enumerated liability account so that said listed set can be constructed from said transaction data file. 
     
     
       13. An apparatus for determining accrued use-taxes, said apparatus having a linkage to a sales tax payment record which contains a list of paid sales taxes, comprising: a computer;   transaction record acquisition logic in said computer for acquiring transaction information characterizing purchases of goods and services, and for generating transaction records;   use-tax accrual logic in said computer linked to said transaction records, said accrual logic having an enumerated liability account for holding a listed set of said records, and said logic further having an accrual liability account for holding a single value representing the cumulative impact of said listed set on said use-taxes;   tax rate acquisition logic in said computer for acquiring tax jurisidction codes, at least one inclusive accounting group registry respective to taxes, and tax information respective to said tax jurisdiction codes for a plurality of state jurisdictions, and for generating a data schema linked to said use-tax accrual logic having first data elements descriptive of inclusive accounting group registries, second data elements descriptive of tax jurisdiction codes, and third data elements descriptive of tax data respective to said tax jurisdiction codes, said third data elements having a data type for holding a multiple set of taxable percentages for a cost object so that a plurality of use-tax values may be generated from said listed set with each value having its respective taxable percentage basis retained in said data schema; and   sales tax crediting logic in said computer linked to said sales tax payment record and to said data schema such that said paid sales taxes can be debited to said accrued use-taxes.   
     
     
       14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said tax rate acquisition logic further comprises logic for acquiring data elements descriptive of excluded accounting group registries, and said data schema further comprises fourth data elements descriptive of said excluded accounting group registries. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are arranged in tables of said data schema. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising data alignment logic in said computer which is used to determine if any of said first, second, and third data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in said use-tax accrual logic for a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising data alignment logic in said computer which is used to determine if any said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in said use-tax accrual logic for a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising transaction record extraction logic in said computer used to read said transaction records, parse and selectively extract data necessary for defining said accrued use-taxes, and write the extracted data into a transaction data file, wherein said use-tax accrual logic is linked to said transaction data file and to said enumerated liability account so that said listed set can be constructed from said transaction data file. 
     
     
       19. A method for determining accrued use-taxes from transaction records holding data elements which characterize purchases of goods and services, comprising the steps of: providing a computer;   acquiring transaction information charactarizing purchases of goods and services;   generating transaction records in said computer from said transaction information;   accessing, in said computer, said transaction records to define a listed set of said records which characterize purchases of goods and services;   storing said listed set;   acquiring tax jurisdiction codes, at least one inclusive accounting group registry respective to taxes, and tax information respective to said tax jurisdiction codes for a plurality of state jurisdictions;   generating in said computer a data schema having first data elements descriptive of inclusive accounting group registries, second data elements descriptive of tax jurisdiction codes, and third data elements descriptive of tax data respective to said tax jurisdiction codes, said third data elements having a data type for holding a multiple set of taxable percentages for a cost object so that a plurality of use-tax values may be generated from said listed set with each value having its respective taxable percentage basis retained in said data schema;   accessing in said computer said data schema to acquire said first, second, and third data elements;   using said listed set and using said first, second, and third data elements to determine said accrued use-taxes in said computer; and   deriving a single value representing the cumulative impact of said listed set on said use-taxes.   
     
     
       20. The method of claim 19 further comprising acquiring data elements descriptive of excluded accounting group registries, and generating in said data schema in said computer fourth data elements descriptive of said excluded accounting group registries. 
     
     
       21. The method of claim 20 wherein said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are arranged in said computer in tables of said provided data schema. 
     
     
       22. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of determining if any of said first, second, and third data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       23. The method of claim 20 further comprising the step of determining if any of said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       24. The method of claim 19 wherein said accessing further comprises the steps of parsing and selectively extracting data necessary for defining said accrued use-taxes from said transaction records, writing the extracted data into a transaction data file, and determining said listed set from said transaction data file. 
     
     
       25. A method for determining accrued use-taxes from transaction records holding data elements which characterize purchases of goods and services and from a periodically modified tax rate database, comprising the steps of: providing a computer;   acquiring transaction information characterizing purchases of goods and services;   generating transaction records in said computer from said transaction information;   accessing, in said computer, said transaction records to define a listed set of said records which characterize purchases of goods and services;   storing said listed set;   acquiring tax jurisdiction codes, at least one inclusive accounting group registry respective to taxes, and tax information respective to said tax jurisdiction codes for a plurality of state jurisdictions;   generating in said computer a data schema having first data elements descriptive of inclusive accounting group registries, second data elements descriptive of tax jurisdiction codes, and third data elements descriptive of tax data respective to said tax jurisdiction codes, said third data elements having a data type for holding a multiple set of taxable percentages for a cost object so that a plurality of use-tax values may be generated from said listed set with each value having its respective taxable percentage basis retained in said data schema;   accessing in said computer said data schema to acquire said first, second, and third data elements;   using said listed set and using said first, second, and third data elements to determine said accrued use-taxes in said computer;   driving a single value representing the cumulative impact of said listed set on said use-taxes; and   periodically acquiring new tax information from said tax rate database to replace respective third data elements.   
     
     
       26. The method of claim 25 further comprising acquiring into said computer data elements descriptive of excluded accounting group registries, and generating in said data schema in said computer fourth data elements descriptive of said excluded accounting group registries. 
     
     
       27. The method of claim 26 wherein said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are arranged in said computer in tables of said provided data schema. 
     
     
       28. The method of claim 25 further comprising the step of determining if any of said first, second, and third data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       29. The method of claim 26 further comprising the step of determining if any of said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       30. The method of claim 25 wherein said accesing further comprises the steps of parsing and selectively extracting data necessary for defining said accrued use-taxes from said transaction records, writing the extracted data into a transaction data file, and determining said listed set from said transaction data file. 
     
     
       31. A method for determining accrued use-taxes from transaction records holding data elements which characterize purchases of goods and services and from a sales tax payment record which contains a list of paid sales taxes, comprising the steps of: providing a computer;   acquiring transaction information characterizing purchases of goods and services;   generating transaction records in said computer from said transaction information;   accessing, in said computer, said transaction records to define a listed set of said records which characterize purchases of goods and services;   storing said listed set;   acquiring tax jurisdiction codes, at least one inclusive accounting group registry respective to taxes, and tax information respective to said tax jurisdiction codes for a plurality of state jurisdictions;   generating in said computer a data schema having first data elements descriptive of inclusive accounting group registries, second data elements descriptive of tax jurisdiction codes, and third data elements descriptive of tax data respective to said tax jurisdiction codes, said third data elements having a data type for holding a multiple set of taxable percentages for a cost object so that a plurality of use-tax values may be generated from said listed set with each value having its respective taxable percentage basis retained in said data schema;   accessing in said computer said data schema to acquire said first, second, and third data elements;   using said listed set and using said first, second, and third data elements to determine said accrued use-taxes in said computer;   deriving a single value representing the cumulative impact of said listed set on said use-taxes; and   debiting said paid sales taxes to said accrued use-taxes.   
     
     
       32. The method of claim 31 further comprising acquiring into said computer data elements descriptive of excluded accounting group registries, and generating in said data schema in said computer fourth data elements descriptive of said excluded accounting group registries. 
     
     
       33. The method of claim 32 wherein said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are arranged in said computer in tables of said provided data schema. 
     
     
       34. The method of claim 31 further comprising the step of determining if any of said first, second, and third data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       35. The method of claim 32 further comprising the step of determining if any of said first, second, third, and fourth data elements are both included for use and also excluded from use in a particular use-tax determination instance. 
     
     
       36. The method of claim 31 wherein said accessing further comprises the steps of parsing and selectively extracting data necessary for defining said accrued use-taxes from said transaction records, writing the extracted data into a transaction data file, and determining said listed set from said transaction data file.