System and method for generating explanations for year-over-year tax changes

A computing system, comprising:

• a computing device comprising a computer processor, a memory and a display;
• a computerized tax return preparation application comprising computer executable instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor, the computerized tax return preparation application being operable to generate an electronic tax return and comprising:
• a shared data store configured to store runtime data of the electronic tax return and a plurality of narratives associated with a first reporting period and a plurality of narratives associated with a second reporting period,
• an interface controller in communication with the shared data store,
• a first calculation graph structure for the first reporting period, the first calculation graph structure comprising a plurality of nodes including a plurality of leaf or input nodes, a plurality of functional nodes and associated respective functions, wherein respective calculation paths through the first calculation graph structure connect a plurality of data dependent nodes of the first calculation graph structure,
• a second calculation graph structure for the second reporting period, the second calculation graph structure comprising a plurality of nodes including one or more of leaf or input nodes, functional nodes and associated respective functions, and a plurality of calculation paths, each calculation path connecting a plurality of data dependent nodes of the second calculation graph structure, wherein the associated respective functions of the first calculation graph structure and the second calculation graph structure comprise functions in common with the tax preparation application such that changes in tax laws and/or regulations may be implemented by changing one or more of the associated respective functions,
• a calculation engine in communication with the shared data store and configured to receive the first calculation graph structure and the second calculation graph structure as inputs and identify differences among nodes of the first calculation graph structure and nodes of the second calculation graph structure, the calculation engine being configured to generate a differential tax calculation graph structure comprising a hierarchical structure based at least in part upon the first calculation graph structure and the second calculation graph structure and indicating differences among nodes of the first calculation graph structure and nodes of the second calculation graph structure,
• an explanation engine in communication with the calculation engine, the user interface controller and the shared data store and configured to identify a pointer or tag associated with at least one functional node and associated function, identify a narrative in the shared data store based at least in part upon the pointer or tag, and generate a textual explanation for the one or more differences among the nodes regarding a change in tax liability in the first reporting period compared to the second reporting period based at least in part upon the identified narrative,
• the interface controller configured to receive the textual explanation and generate a user interface comprising the textual explanation that is presented through the display of the computing device, wherein different user interface presentations are invoked based on a type of the display used by the computing device;
• and
• a rule-based logic agent in communication with the shared data store, the rule-based logic agent being further configured to receive first runtime data from the shared data store, determine which questions of the computerized tax return preparation application that remain unanswered based at least in part upon the first runtime data and a completion graph data structure, generate a non-binding suggestion based at least in part upon the determined questions, and transmit the non-binding suggestion to the interface controller,
• the interface controller receiving the non-binding suggestion from the rule-based logic agent and presenting a question based on the non-binding suggestion to the user interface, tax logic determinations being executed independently of and before the interface controller receives the non-binding suggestion.