# US 2014/0195461 A1 · Daily equity based tax solution

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- Number: US 2014/0195461 A1
- Document ID: US20140195461A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/837,096
- Filed: 2013-03-15
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2013-01-09
- Assignees: United Technologies Corporation
- Applicants: United Technologies Corporation
- Inventors: Marc J. Fafard; Denise Ralls-Gaines
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140195461A1

## CPC

- G06Q 40/00: Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
- G06Q 40/10: Tax strategies
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

In a computer-implemented method for managing tax withholding liabilities, a notification of a non-standard compensation transaction is received. The non-standard compensation transaction is initiated during a time period covered by the notification. A resulting tax withholding liability is automatically calculated. A directive is automatically generated for directing a calculated tax withholding payment to be made and applied against the calculated tax withholding liability. The calculated payment is to be made to a tax authority on or before a calculated due date of the tax withholding liability.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computer-implemented method for managing tax withholding liabilities, the method comprising:
receiving a notification of a non-standard compensation transaction initiated during a time period covered by the notification;
automatically calculating a tax withholding liability resulting from the non-standard compensation transaction;
automatically generating a directive for a calculated tax withholding payment to be made and applied against the calculated tax withholding liability, the calculated payment to be made to a tax authority on or before a calculated due date of the tax withholding liability.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the notification time period is less than an ordinary payroll time period.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the calculated due date of the tax withholding liability precedes a due date of tax withholding liabilities resulting from an ordinary payroll event.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the notification time period reflects no more than a single business day or market day immediately preceding receipt of the notification.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the non-standard compensation transaction is an equity-based transaction.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the equity-based transaction involves at least one of: stock appreciation rights (SAR), non-qualified stock options (NQSO), restricted stock (RS), restricted stock units (RSU), and performance stock units (PSU).

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein an amount of the calculated tax withholding payment is equal to or greater than the calculated tax withholding liability.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
automatically generating an accounting entry for recording the calculated tax withholding payment.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
preventing a payroll system from making a subsequent tax withholding payment substantially duplicative of the calculated tax withholding payment.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the payroll system is managed by a payroll vendor.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the payroll system receives a separate report of the non-standard compensation transaction at, or just prior to, the end of a payroll period in which the transaction was initiated.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the preventing step includes automatically generating a tax reversal directive for offsetting the calculated tax withholding payment against a subsequent tax withholding payment.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the tax reversal directive is transmitted to the payroll system at, or just prior to, the close of an ordinary payroll period.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
automatically generating an alert that no non-standard compensation transaction has occurred during the notification time period.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
prior to the calculating step, automatically validating integrity of the notification.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the validation step includes automatically generating an alert if the receiving step has not occurred within an expected time interval after the end of the time period covered by the notification.

### Claim 17

A computer-implemented method for managing tax withholding liabilities, the method comprising:
receiving a first electronic data file containing notification of one or more non-standard compensation transactions initiated during a notification time period;
automatically calculating one or more tax withholding liabilities which result from any non-standard compensation transaction notifications contained in the first electronic data file; and
automatically generating a second electronic data file containing a directive for a tax payment module to make and apply a tax withholding payment against the one or more calculated tax withholding liabilities, the tax withholding payment to be made to a tax authority on or before a due date.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein one or more steps of the method are performed by an equity-based tax management (EBTM) module.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the EBTM module is part of an accounting system providing accounting services to at least one business unit responsible for funding the tax withholding payment.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the EBTM module is part of a payroll system managed by a payroll vendor providing payroll services to at least one business unit responsible for funding the tax withholding payment.

### Claim 21 (depends on 18)

The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein the EBTM module is part of a computer system managed by a business consulting vendor providing consulting services to at least one business unit responsible for funding the tax withholding payment.

### Claim 22 (depends on 17)

The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising:
automatically generating a third electronic data file containing at least one accounting entry for recording any calculated tax withholding payments made to the tax authority.

### Claim 23 (depends on 17)

The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the first electronic data file is received from a brokerage module.

### Claim 24 (depends on 17)

The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the payment to the tax authority is made in an amount equal to or greater than a total of any calculated tax withholding liabilities.

### Claim 25 (depends on 17)

The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the tax payment module is part of a payroll system managed by a payroll vendor providing payroll services to at least one business unit responsible for funding the tax withholding payment.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein the payroll system also includes a payroll module which receives a separate report of the one or more non-standard compensation transactions.

### Claim 27 (depends on 26)

The computer-implemented method of claim 26, wherein the separate report is contained in a fourth electronic data file received by the payroll system at or just prior to the close of an ordinary payroll period.

### Claim 28 (depends on 26)

The computer-implemented method of claim 26, wherein the separate report is contained in a fifth electronic data file received by the payroll system at or just prior to the close of an out-of-sequence (OOS) payroll period.

### Claim 29 (depends on 17)

The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising:
preventing a payroll system from making a subsequent tax withholding payment substantially duplicative of the calculated tax withholding payment.

### Claim 30 (depends on 29)

The computer-implemented method of claim 29, wherein the preventing step includes automatically generating at least one tax reversal directive for offsetting any calculated tax withholding payments against a subsequent tax withholding payment.

### Claim 31 (depends on 30)

The computer-implemented method of claim 30, wherein the at least one tax reversal directive is transmitted to the tax payment module at or just prior to the close of an ordinary payroll period.

### Claim 32 (depends on 30)

The computer-implemented method of claim 30, wherein the at least one tax reversal directive is contained in a sixth electronic data file.

### Claim 33 (depends on 17)

The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein at least one of the non-standard compensation transactions is an equity-based transaction.

### Claim 34 (depends on 33)

The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein the equity-based transaction involves at least one of: stock appreciation rights (SAR), non-qualified stock options (NQSO), restricted stock (RS), restricted stock units (RSU), and performance stock units (PSU).

### Claim 35 (depends on 17)

The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising:
reviewing the first electronic file to confirm that no equity-based compensation transaction has been initiated during the time period covered by the notification

### Claim 36 (depends on 17)

The computer-implemented method of claim 17, further comprising:
validating the data contained in the first electronic data file.

### Claim 37 (depends on 36)

The computer-implemented method of claim 36, wherein the validating step includes automatically generating a time-sensitive alert if the first electronic data file has not been received within an expected time interval after the end of the time period covered by the notification.

### Claim 38 (depends on 35)

The computer-implemented method of claim 35, wherein the first electronic data file is scheduled to be received once per business day.

### Claim 39 (depends on 17)

The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein a due date of any tax withholding liability is automatically calculated based on a settlement date for each non-standard compensation transaction initiated during the time period.

### Claim 40 (depends on 39)

The computer-implemented method of claim 39, wherein the due date is based on a predetermined time interval after the settlement date.

### Claim 41 (depends on 40)

The computer-implemented method of claim 40, wherein the predetermined time interval is based on a total amount of unpaid tax withholding liabilities accumulated up to and including each settlement date, the accumulated unpaid tax withholding liabilities including both standard compensation and non-standard compensation.

### Claim 42

A computer-implemented method for managing tax withholding liabilities using a payroll system, the method comprising:
receiving a tax payment directive after initiation of a non-standard compensation transaction;
making a calculated tax withholding payment described in the directive on or before a due date of a calculated tax withholding liability, the calculated tax withholding liability resulting from the non-standard compensation transaction; and
preventing the payroll system from making a subsequent tax withholding payment substantially duplicative of the calculated tax withholding payment.

### Claim 43 (depends on 42)

The computer-implemented method of claim 42, wherein the directive is received each business day.

### Claim 44 (depends on 42)

The computer-implemented method of claim 42, wherein the payroll system records both standard compensation and non-standard compensation.

### Claim 45 (depends on 42)

The computer-implemented method of claim 42, wherein the payroll system is managed by a payroll vendor providing payroll services to at least one business unit responsible for making the calculated tax withholding payment.

### Claim 46 (depends on 42)

The computer-implemented method of claim 42, wherein the payroll system comprises a tax payment module configured to perform the making step.

### Claim 47 (depends on 46)

The computer-implemented method of claim 46, wherein the payroll system further comprises a payroll module configured to automatically provide notification of all reported compensation to the tax payment module.

### Claim 48 (depends on 47)

The computer-implemented method of claim 47, wherein the payroll module is configured to receive a report of the non-standard compensation transaction separate from the tax payment module receiving the payment directive.

### Claim 49 (depends on 48)

The computer-implemented method of claim 48, wherein the separate report is received by the payroll module at, or just prior to, the close of an ordinary payroll period.

### Claim 50 (depends on 48)

The computer-implemented method of claim 48, wherein the separate notification is received by the payroll module at, or just prior to, the close of an out-of-sequence (OOS) payroll period.

### Claim 51 (depends on 42)

The computer-implemented method of claim 42, wherein the tax payment directive is automatically generated by an equity-based tax management (EBTM) module.

### Claim 52 (depends on 51)

The computer-implemented method of claim 51, wherein the EBTM module is part of an accounting system managed by at least one business unit responsible for funding the tax withholding payment.

### Claim 53 (depends on 51)

The computer-implemented method of claim 51, wherein the EBTM module is integrated with the payroll system.

### Claim 54 (depends on 51)

The computer-implemented method of claim 51, wherein the EBTM module is part of a computer system managed by a business consulting firm providing consulting services to at least one business unit responsible for funding the tax withholding payment.

### Claim 55 (depends on 42)

The method of claim 42, further comprising:
reporting the non-standard compensation transaction through the payroll system.

### Claim 56 (depends on 42)

The computer-implemented method of claim 42, wherein the due date of the tax withholding liability precedes a due date of tax withholding liabilities resulting from an ordinary payroll event.

### Claim 57 (depends on 42)

The method of claim 42, wherein the non-standard compensation transaction is an equity-based transaction.

### Claim 58 (depends on 57)

The method of claim 57, wherein the equity-based transaction involves at least one of: stock appreciation rights (SAR), non-qualified stock options (NQSO), restricted stock (RS), restricted stock units (RSU), and performance stock units (PSU).