Rapid tax collection system and method

Abstract

Preferred examples of a system and method for rapid collection and distribution of taxes are disclosed. The disclosed embodiments of the present invention provide a system and a method for point-of-sale collection and distribution of sales taxes on a frequent, regular basis, such as daily or weekly or other periodic time intervals, that can be used for face-to-face, e-commerce, telephone or other transactions. The disclosed embodiments provide a system and a method for transferring funds from numerous merchants to numerous taxing authorities in an efficient manner, with each merchant seeking to transfer funds to perhaps several taxing authorities and each taxing authority seeking to receive funds from many merchants. According to other examples of the invention, a centralized distribution feature allows the merchants and the taxing authorities to each communicate with a single entity or other in transferring the funds. Therefore, efficient tax collection and distribution may be achieved without overburdening either individual merchants or individual taxing authorities

We claim: 
     
         1 . A system for collection and distribution of taxes comprising:
 a third-party service provider computer in communication with:
 a third-party service provider bank computer; 
 a merchant computer; 
 a merchant bank computer; and 
 one or more taxing entity bank computers, each associated with a taxing entity; 
   wherein the third-party service provider computer receives transaction information from the merchant computer, wherein the transaction information includes a sales amount and location information;   in response to the receipt of the transaction information from the merchant computer, the third-party service provider computer calculates the tax liability owed to each taxing entity based, at least in part, on the location information;   after calculating the tax liability, the third-party service provider computer coordinates a fund transfer corresponding to the tax liability owed to each taxing entity between the third-party service provider bank computer and the merchant bank computer; and   the third-party service provider computer further coordinates one or more fund transfers corresponding to the tax liability owed to each taxing entity between the third-party service provider bank computer and the one or more taxing entity bank computers.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein a gateway computer facilitates communication between the third-party service provider computer and the merchant computer. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein location information includes location of the consumer. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein location information includes location of the merchant. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein location information includes location of one or more of a billing location, a warehouse location, or a fulfillment center location. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the third-party service provider computer calculates the tax liability owed to each taxing entity based on predetermined distribution rules. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the tax liability is a sales tax. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the fund transfer request corresponding to the tax liability between the third-party service provider bank computer and the merchant bank computer is a debit request. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the one or more fund transfer requests corresponding to the tax liability owed to each taxing entity between the third-party service provider bank computer and the one or more taxing entity bank computers is a payment request. 
     
     
         10 . A computer-implemented method for collection and distribution of taxes comprising the steps of:
 receiving, in a third-party service provider computer in communication with:
 a third-party service provider bank computer; 
 a merchant computer; 
 a merchant bank computer; and 
 one or more taxing entity bank computers, each associated with a taxing entity; 
   transaction information from the merchant computer, wherein the transaction information includes a sales amount and location information;   in response to the receipt of the transaction information from the merchant computer, calculating the tax liability owed to each taxing entity based, at least in part, on the location information;   after calculating the tax liability, coordinating a fund transfer corresponding to the tax liability owed to each taxing entity between the third-party service provider bank computer and the merchant bank computer; and   coordinating one or more fund transfers corresponding to the tax liability owed to each taxing entity between the third-party service provider bank computer and the one or more taxing entity bank computers.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein a gateway computer facilitates communication between the third-party service provider computer and the merchant computer. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein location information includes location of the consumer. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10  wherein location information includes location of the merchant. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10  wherein location information includes location of one or more of a billing location, a warehouse location, or a fulfillment center location. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the third-party service provider computer calculates the tax liability owed to each taxing entity based on predetermined distribution rules. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the tax liability is a sales tax. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the fund transfer request corresponding to the tax liability between the third-party service provider bank computer and the merchant bank computer is a debit request. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the one or more fund transfer requests corresponding to the tax liability owed to each taxing entity between the third-party service provider bank computer and the one or more taxing entity bank computers is a payment request. 
     
     
         19 . A system for collection and distribution of taxes comprising:
 one or more third-party service provider computers, each including memory, wherein the memory is configured to store program instructions executable by the third-party service provider computer, further wherein, in response to executing the program instructions, one or more of the third-party service provider computers are configured to:
 receive a purchase amount and location identifier from a merchant computer; 
 access a database including a plurality of sale tax rates associated with a plurality of location identifiers; 
 calculate a tax amount based on the purchase amount and the sales tax rate associated with the received location identifier; 
 communicate the tax amount to a merchant financial institution; 
 receive a tax amount payment from the financial institution; and 
 send the tax amount payment to a tax authority. 
   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the controller is configured to not send the tax amount payment to the merchant. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the controller is further configured to:
 receive a purchase amount payment from the financial institution; and 
 send the purchase amount payment to the merchant. 
 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the merchant is an individual customer. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the database is in communication with a plurality of jurisdictional tax codes and corresponding location identifiers, wherein the controller is configured to periodically update the plurality of sales tax rates based on the jurisdictional tax codes for each location identifier. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the controller is further configured to:
 receive payment information from the merchant; and 
 communicate the payment information to a payment processing center in communication with the merchant financial institution. 
 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the location identifier is a zip code. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the location identifier is a shipping address. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the location identifier is a billing address.