A new and improved tax collection system and method collects and remits taxes in real time at point-of-sale locations. The system includes a group of point-of-sale terminals at merchant point-of-sale facilities that receive and store tax collection information under merchant control. A bank computer at a merchant bank accesses the stored tax collection information and wire transfers the collected sums periodically to at least one computer at a tax authority bank. For credit or debit transactions, a service computer receives the tax collection information daily from certain ones of the point-of-sale terminals, and wire transfers the credited or debited taxes to the tax authority bank computer.

A system and method automatically enters financial transactions such as credit card transactions into a financial account stored in a computer. A financial statement incorporating the transactions is provided in an electronic form understood by the computer, such as a computer data file, for updating the financial account. For a credit card account, the electronic statement includes one or more credit card transactions such as purchases. Before accepting the electronic statement, the process verifies that the electronic form of the statement has not been altered since its creation and therefore correctly reflects transactions in the original statement. In the process of entering the transactions, they are tracked by automatically assigning them to expense categories. First the process determines from the electronic statement if a payee for a transaction is of record in the computer and, if so, assigns the transaction to a category already associated with the payee. If not, the process next determines from the electronic statement a merchant category code such as a Standard Industry Code (SIC). The merchant category code is associated with a category recognized by the computer, and the transaction is assigned to the recognized category. If no recognized category exists, the process prompts the user for a category to which the transaction can be assigned.

A system and method for isolating and automating the transfer of tax withholdings to the appropriate tax withholding accounts. A check is provided which on its face indicates the withholding accounts and amounts withheld for each withholding account. The Payroll Trust Check (PTC) is unique in that it clears the banking system with multiple payees. Other than the employee portion (net amount), these payee amounts are accumulated in trust accounts and forwarded to the U.S. Treasury and/or other collection agencies on a daily basis. A sequence of bar codes are also printed on the check to identify the particular withholding accounts. When the check is presented for processing, the information on the front of the check is micro-coded, as is normally the case. The additional information related to the withholding accounts and amounts are also micro-coded. The check is optically scanned to read the micro-coded data and the bar code data. On the basis of the bar code data, which includes the employer's account number, a processing computer determines the actual destination to which the withholding amounts are to be electronically transferred into the proper withholding account.

An electronic intermediary electronically connects with a tax data provider and collects electronically tax data from the tax data provider. The electronic intermediary processes the tax data collected electronically, and prepares an electronic tax return using the processed tax data. The electronic intermediary connects electronically with a taxing authority, files the electronic tax return with the taxing authority, and arranges electronically for the payment or receipt of any tax liability or refund, respectively.

In the paperless accounting system of the present invention, even if a person is not accustomed to accounting, a slip can be easily formed by simply inputting data of necessary items displayed on menu screens having different menus in accordance with different types of slips. Input errors of input slip data are automatically checked. Even if erroneous data are input, they can be corrected on the spot. The finished electronic slip files are assigned with slip numbers, respectively.