Patent ID: 7756762

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for providing audit support comprising: displaying, using a user interface executing on a computer, a plurality of sample letter images representing layouts of a plurality of pre-existing audit letters sent by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for auditing tax returns, wherein each of the plurality of sample letter images is associated with one of a plurality of audit categories; receiving, using the user interface executing on the computer, a taxpayer selection of one of the plurality of sample letter images from a taxpayer to obtain a selected sample letter image; in response to the taxpayer selection, displaying a detailed sample letter image representing expanded content of one of the plurality of pre-existing audit letters and a first confirmation question corresponding to the selected sample letter image, wherein displaying the detailed sample letter image is performed using the user interface executing on the computer; receiving, using the user interface executing on the computer, a first response to the first confirmation question from the taxpayer based on data found within a taxpayer correspondence received from the IRS, wherein the first response confirms the taxpayer selection; displaying, using the user interface executing on the computer, a first audit category description corresponding to the one of the plurality of audit categories associated with the taxpayer selection; and displaying, using the user interface executing on the computer, an action item list associated with the taxpayer selection, wherein the action item list includes at least one action for the taxpayer to take to resolve a tax return audit described by the first audit category description.