Patent ID: 8412606

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising: generating in a user interface a frame and at least one stile defining a plurality of panes within which information is displayed and received; displaying a plurality of selectable items within the frame; displaying in a first one of the panes one or more requests for tax information from a user, with the tax information comprising information necessary to complete a tax return; displaying in the first one of the panes one or more fields into which the user can input tax information in response to the one or more requests for tax information; providing for the user to select for display in a second one of the panes assistance information for assisting the user in inputting the tax information into the one or more fields of the first one of the panes; receiving information indicative of a selection by the user of one of the selectable items of the plurality of selectable items, wherein the assistance information corresponds to an assistance information type selected from a plurality of assistance information types via the user's selection of the one of the selectable items of the plurality of selectable items; displaying in the second one of the panes the assistance information for assisting the user in inputting the tax information, wherein the first one and second one of the panes are displayed in the user interface at the same time upon activation of the user interface, wherein during said display of the assistance information, said at least one field con-figured to receive tax information in the first one of the panes remains selectable by and fully visible to the user, receiving the tax information input by the user; and preparing a tax return using the received tax information.