Patent ID: 7917411

Claim:
A system, comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises program instructions for executing: an error reduction component of a tax preparation software application, the error reduction component configured to: receive user-supplied financial information for a tax return to be filed with a tax authority for an entity; send a request to the tax authority for entity tax information associated with the entity, wherein the entity tax information is obtained from the tax authority and associated with a particular tax year; in response to the request, receive the entity tax information from the tax authority; prior to filing the tax return on behalf of the entity to the tax authority: determine one or more differences between a portion of the user-supplied financial information and a corresponding portion of the entity tax information received from the tax authority; and send a correction request in a certified communication to the tax authority to correct at least one of the one or more differences between the portion of the user-supplied financial information and the corresponding portion of the entity tax information received from the tax authority, wherein the communication has been certified by the tax authority as received from the tax preparation software application.