Computing validation and error discovery in computers executing a multi-level tax data validation engine

A computing device comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for validating incoming data provided to a tax evaluation software program by causing the processor to:
• select a gate from among a plurality of gates at which tax data is to be validated, wherein selection of the gate is based on a desired granularity of validation, wherein:
• the plurality of gates comprises a first set of gates comprising validation rules that apply to employees and a second set of gates comprising validation rules that apply to employers;
• each of the plurality of gates comprises a corresponding pre-selected organization of validation rules that specifies a corresponding level of validation, wherein the first set of gates comprises:
• a first gate consisting of validation rules that validate data type, data length, and formatting checks;
• a second gate consisting of validation rules that compute dependent wage components and tax fields at an employee level;
• a third gate consisting of validation rules that build employee rollups of atomic and computed fields at various levels;
• and
• a fourth gate consisting of validation rules that identify, execute, and take action based on validation rules against the rollup data at an employee level;
• and
• wherein the second set of gates comprises:
• a fifth gate consisting of validation rules that build employer rollups of atomic and computed fields at various levels;
• a sixth gate consisting of validation rules that compute dependent wage components and tax fields at an employer level which could not be computed at the employee level;
• and
• a seventh gate consisting of validation rules that identify, execute, and take action based on validation rules against the rollup data at an employer level;
• at which the tax data is validated by the corresponding gate;
• perform a validation of the data at the gate using corresponding organization of validation rules at the particular level of validation to determine:
• if the tax data is in a proper form to be processed;
• if the tax data is complete;
• and
• whether a different gate at a higher level of granularity is applicable to the tax data;
• perform a machine learning analysis on the validation of the tax data to determine an applicability of other rules in other gates, wherein the machine learning analysis includes at least one of trend analysis or pattern analysis;
• and
• responsive to detecting a failure in the validation of the tax data at the gate, generate and display on a display device a cause for the failure.

A computer program product comprising:

• a non-transitory, computer-recordable storage medium including instructions for validating incoming data provided to a tax evaluation software application, the instructions comprising:
• first program code for receiving tax data;
• second program code for selecting a gate from among a plurality of gates at which the tax data is to be validated, wherein selection of the gate is based on a desired granularity of validation, wherein:
• the plurality of gates comprises a first set of gates comprising validation rules that apply to employees and a second set of gates comprising validation rules that apply to employers;
• each of the plurality of gates comprises a corresponding pre-selected organization of validation rules that specifies a corresponding level of validation detail at which the tax data is validated by the corresponding gate, wherein the first set of gates comprises:
• a first gate consisting of validation rules that validate data type, data length, and formatting checks;
• a second gate consisting of validation rules that compute dependent wage components and tax fields at an employee level;
• a third gate consisting of validation rules that build employee rollups of atomic and computed fields at various levels;
• and
• a fourth gate consisting of validation rules that identify, execute, and take action based on validation rules against the rollup data at an employee level;
• and
• wherein the second set of gates comprises:
• a fifth gate consisting of validation rules that build employer rollups of atomic and computed fields at various levels;
• a sixth gate consisting of validation rules that compute dependent wage components and tax fields at an employer level which could not be computed at the employee level;
• and
• a seventh gate consisting of validation rules that identify, execute, and take action based on validation rules against the rollup data at an employer level;
• third program code for validating the data at the gate using corresponding organization of validation rules at the particular level of validation to determine:
• if the tax data is in a proper form to be processed;
• if the tax data is complete;
• and
• whether a different gate at a higher level of granularity is applicable to the tax data;
• fourth program code for performing a machine learning analysis on the validation of the data to determine an applicability of other rules in other gates, wherein the machine learning analysis includes trend and pattern analysis of results of operation of a rules engine;
• and
• fifth program code for, responsive to detecting a failure in validation of the data at the gate, generating and displaying on a display device a cause for the failure.