Patent ID: 8150747

Claim:
A tax return preparation kit, comprising: a dedicated disposable tax return preparation device comprising a plurality of alphanumeric keys and a read-only memory (ROM) storing a restricted operating system (OS) and a tax preparation application, wherein the restricted OS is restricted to supporting execution of the tax preparation application and communication with a remote tax return preparation system, the tax preparation application configured to: receive taxpayer input of tax related data comprising financial and tax information of a taxpayer entered by the taxpayer using the plurality of alphanumeric keys; determine, in response to receiving the tax related data and based on the received tax related data, tax return data including at least one selected from a group consisting of a tax refund due to the taxpayer and a tax payment due by the taxpayer; and prompt, in response to receiving notification from the taxpayer to file the tax return data, the taxpayer to connect a communications cable to a telecommunications system; and the communications cable for communicatively coupling the dedicated disposable tax return preparation device to the telecommunications system, the dedicated disposable tax return preparation device adapted to transmit via the communications cable the tax return data to the remote tax return preparation system coupled to the telecommunications system and adapted to: receive the tax return data determined by the dedicated disposable tax return preparation device, prepare an electronic tax record based on the tax return data, and electronically file the electronic tax return with a tax authority.