Patent ID: 8117098

Claim:
A computer-enabled method for improving compliance of a plurality of taxpayers subject to respective estimated tax obligations to a common taxing authority by use of periodic set-asides of funds sufficient to make required payments in accordance with terms of the obligations, the method comprising: using a computer-based system including a processor, database, at least one taxpayer interface, and data links to selected financial institutions controlling selected financial accounts for establishing and storing in memory for each of the estimated tax obligations a next available set-aside date and a due date for a next required payment, the due date being common for all of the estimated tax obligations; determining and storing in memory for each of the estimated tax obligations a payment amount for the next required payment; ascertaining and storing in memory for each of the taxpayers compliance preferences including a preferred set-aside period and an amount per period to be set aside; calculating and storing in memory for each of the estimated tax obligations a set-aside schedule as a function of the next available set-aside date, the due date, the payment amount, and the compliance preferences, the calculated set-aside schedule comprising a plurality of set-aside amounts and a plurality of corresponding set-aside dates, whereby a total of the set-aside amounts is at least equal to the payment amount; displaying to each taxpayer the set-aside schedule calculated for the estimated tax obligation applicable to the taxpayer; enabling each taxpayer to accept or adjust the applicable calculated set-aside schedule and, if adjusted, overwriting the stored set-aside schedule with the adjusted set-aside schedule; for each of the taxpayers, according to the applicable calculated set-aside schedule, transferring an amount of funds equal to the scheduled set-aside amount, on the scheduled set-aside date, by means of one or more data messages, from at least one individual source account associated with the taxpayer to a respective sub-account of a common holding account, wherein set-aside amounts are combined but accrued on behalf of the respective taxpayers until the due date; transferring by batch file instructions the combined payment amount, on the common due date, by means of one or more data messages, from the at least one holding account to a receiving account of the taxing authority, with instructions for apportioning the combined payment among the respective individual taxpayers; and storing in memory a record of the transferred amount as a reduction to the holding account and the sub-accounts of the individual taxpayers and a corresponding reduction to their respective individual estimated tax obligations.