CA2215435A1 - Automated process for sales tax refund processing by means of publicly accessible machines - Google Patents
Automated process for sales tax refund processing by means of publicly accessible machines Download PDFInfo
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- CA2215435A1 CA2215435A1 CA 2215435 CA2215435A CA2215435A1 CA 2215435 A1 CA2215435 A1 CA 2215435A1 CA 2215435 CA2215435 CA 2215435 CA 2215435 A CA2215435 A CA 2215435A CA 2215435 A1 CA2215435 A1 CA 2215435A1
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- refund
- sales tax
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- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
- G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
- G07F17/26—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for printing, stamping, franking, typing or teleprinting apparatus
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- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Cash Registers Or Receiving Machines (AREA)
Abstract
This invention comprises the use of a publicly accessible computer or terminal as a means to efficiently complete and file the forms required for tourists and eligible parties to gain a sales tax refund from the government. The program displays screens which guide the user through the steps involved in their choice of language, the form is generated and signed by the user, and a refund form is filed for the user. The mechanism for implementing the process comprises a program which displays on an output device instructions to guide a user through a series of yes/no steps, menu choices and input screens; a means for printing a copy of the form, a means for filing the form, and a means to allow for payment for this service.
A person can file their own sales tax refund forms automatically in a brief period without any outside assistance.
A person can file their own sales tax refund forms automatically in a brief period without any outside assistance.
Description
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 Automated Process for Sales Tax Refund Processing by Means of Publicly Accessible Mach;ne.s The present invention relates to the refunding of sales taxes that have been collected by a government. In the case of the Canadian government, form GST176E is currently required to achieve a sales tax refund. GST176E is not a tax collection form. This process relates to publicly accessible devices that supply a service for eligible individuals of a convenient, one stop automated completion, automated outputting and remission of sales tax refund forms, with no or minimal outside intervention, for submission to the government.
In the past completion of sales tax refund forms by those eligible has been done nearly entirely by hand. Eligible individuals are people who are allowed to purchase goods without the traditional penalties of a sales tax: for example, international tourists, non-resident businesses, etc. These parties are eligible to receive a refund when they, or their employees, depart from Canada. An eligible party who doesn't speak English often requires assistance from others with the sales tax refund form. As well, the form is difficult to fill out even for English speakers.
In the case of Canada, some duty-free shops offer tourists sales tax refunds immediately, but the assistance process is very time consuming, and nearly all duty free shops are CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 located along the Canada/US border, and have a policy of not servicing airline travellers. Additionally, there are language difficulties, heavy accents, and other impediments to verbal communication. In Canada, in order to fill out a sales tax refund form correctly, a tourist must be able to read, or have translated to him or her many complex conditions and rules, and will have been exposed to all of the following acronyms: GST, HST, TVQ, PST, and TPS.
As an example of the complexity, the followingl is a list of items that eligible persons can not collect refunds on in Canada:
~ meals and beverages;
~ wine, liquor, beer, or other alcoholic beverages ~ tobacco ~ air, train, or bus tickets and car rentals ~ services, such as dry cleaning, shoe repairs, auto repairs, entertainment, parking;
~ professional services such as wedding or funeral services ~ campsite, tent and houseboat rentals ~ rentals of travel trailers and all other recreational vehicles;
1 Taken from "Tax Refund for Visitors," Government of Canada, Revenue Canada brochure RC4031(E)Rev. 97 G152 CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 ~ cruise ship cabins or train berths;
~ purchases of an interest in a time share arrangement;
~ automotive fuels;
~ goods consumed or left in Canada.
Of course, there are many other conditions as well. A
flowchart for one efficient process for an automated method of determining acceptance of receipts is shown in flowchart #1.
Once the sales tax refund form is filled out it is even more difficult to locate a government office that will accept the forms. As an example, in Vancouver's International Airport there were in excess of five million international passengers passing through in 19952. In 1994, over 4.5 million. For 1997, the amount of international traffic through that airport is estimated at over 6.3 million people. However there is no place within the airport, or any airport in Canada, no business, government office, or machine that receives the forms for delivery to the government, nor is there any formal assistance offered with the sales tax refund forms.
In the past completion of sales tax refund forms by those eligible has been done nearly entirely by hand. Eligible individuals are people who are allowed to purchase goods without the traditional penalties of a sales tax: for example, international tourists, non-resident businesses, etc. These parties are eligible to receive a refund when they, or their employees, depart from Canada. An eligible party who doesn't speak English often requires assistance from others with the sales tax refund form. As well, the form is difficult to fill out even for English speakers.
In the case of Canada, some duty-free shops offer tourists sales tax refunds immediately, but the assistance process is very time consuming, and nearly all duty free shops are CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 located along the Canada/US border, and have a policy of not servicing airline travellers. Additionally, there are language difficulties, heavy accents, and other impediments to verbal communication. In Canada, in order to fill out a sales tax refund form correctly, a tourist must be able to read, or have translated to him or her many complex conditions and rules, and will have been exposed to all of the following acronyms: GST, HST, TVQ, PST, and TPS.
As an example of the complexity, the followingl is a list of items that eligible persons can not collect refunds on in Canada:
~ meals and beverages;
~ wine, liquor, beer, or other alcoholic beverages ~ tobacco ~ air, train, or bus tickets and car rentals ~ services, such as dry cleaning, shoe repairs, auto repairs, entertainment, parking;
~ professional services such as wedding or funeral services ~ campsite, tent and houseboat rentals ~ rentals of travel trailers and all other recreational vehicles;
1 Taken from "Tax Refund for Visitors," Government of Canada, Revenue Canada brochure RC4031(E)Rev. 97 G152 CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 ~ cruise ship cabins or train berths;
~ purchases of an interest in a time share arrangement;
~ automotive fuels;
~ goods consumed or left in Canada.
Of course, there are many other conditions as well. A
flowchart for one efficient process for an automated method of determining acceptance of receipts is shown in flowchart #1.
Once the sales tax refund form is filled out it is even more difficult to locate a government office that will accept the forms. As an example, in Vancouver's International Airport there were in excess of five million international passengers passing through in 19952. In 1994, over 4.5 million. For 1997, the amount of international traffic through that airport is estimated at over 6.3 million people. However there is no place within the airport, or any airport in Canada, no business, government office, or machine that receives the forms for delivery to the government, nor is there any formal assistance offered with the sales tax refund forms.
2 Source: Vancouver International Airport Authority YVR Site Statistics CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 Certain duty free shops, and a few specialised businesses are the only ones offering form processing. There are 31+
duty free shops that offer sales tax refunds for all of Canada, which works out to a approximately half a million eligible persons per duty free shop. Most duty free shops are located near the US/Canada border and must verify that the eligible party is crossing the border directly from Canada to the United States in their vehicle. 3 However, duty free shops do not normally give sales tax refunds to an eligible party that is departing by air, and the other businesses that do offer refunds are unusual and not easy to locate.
Ultimately, this leaves very few options available to the eligible air traveller who is departing - they must understand a form well enough to complete it, despite the foreign language, the acronyms and the specialised definitions, hand check each receipt to see if it qualifies, then trust the mail with it. Of course, there is the additional factor that many people who are visitors to 3 The solution for the problem of where an eligible person should drop off the form was suggested by a few of the duty free shops, which they call "Circling the Flag." A person who is leaving the country by air puts the items that they have purchased in a rented or borrowed car. Then the person drives to a valid duty free shop located on the border (nearly all of them are located there) and proceeds to get their refund. They then have to drive to the United States, where they "circle the flag/' and come right back to Canada.
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 another country who don't speak the language are somewhat embarrassed to ask for help. Of course, there is generally no help available in their home country for a foreign sales tax refund form.
It is highly desirable that there be a convenient one-stop automated method of assistance and remission of the sales tax form refund. This invention would overcome the difficulty of locating an acceptable depository, and the inherent instructional problems. Said process can be implemented in a variety of ways but the most sensible is implementation by means of a vending machine type apparatus convenient to the public.
100 The simplest implementation would be a "pay mailbox" which would have instructions printed in different languages on the exterior. Said device would be a container or bin which would have as its sole purpose to open after a user has inserted a coin or other payment. As an example, the user would insert a coin, and the container or bin would open at which point the user would submit a sales tax refund form, which would then be forwarded to the government. The user would be paying solely for an essentially private courier service for the purposes of advancing a form to the 110 government more rapidly, postage free.
This is of debatable honesty and most certainly is lnconvenlent .
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 The most complex implementation of said invention comprises elements of processing such as a signed VISA statement as collateral security in the case of on site-refunds of sales taxes, with visa card PIN identification (for user identification), computer based instruction and a remittance process for the forms. Said machine would allow a party to receive step by step assistance, outputting of the form for their approval and signature, and a built-in convenient drop off point where said sales tax refund form would be picked 120 up and delivered to the government. This invention relates to this process of assistance and remission of the sales tax forms.
According to one aspect the invention consists of the process as diagrammed in flowchart #l implemented in a convenient public place by means of a computer (data processing system), printer, payment acceptor to pay for this service, and bin. This process bypasses the necessity of true identification of the user and the necessity for a method of collateral for any immediate refund, by settling 130 for a delayed refund that would be mailed to the user after government approval of the application, receipt(s) and form.
Said process may be implemented in a vending-machine type apparatus, or equipment standing alone. The process may be entirely mechanised, or the process may have the payment for the service be accepted by an operator. Because said CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 process includes the data processing system aspect of the invention and has been disclosed in the flowchart in Figure #2, a programmer skilled in the art of programming, tax law, linguistics and hardware manufacture can address this 140 invention in any variety of computer programming languages which can be executed on many different types and brands of data processing machines and appropriate hardware.
According to another aspect the invention consists of a process (flowchart #2) to deliver sales tax refunds within minutes of the person entering the data into the form. The disadvantages of allowing a machine to immediately supply the sales tax refund are twofold:
l.There is a difficulty establishing the identity of the machine's user, due to the enormous range of 150 international identifications that would have to be recognised, thus opening up the large possibility of fraud.
2.There is no protection in the event that the machine's user makes an error, such as misreading a receipt, entering incorrect data, misrepresenting the eligibility of certain receipts, entering receipts multiple times into different machines, or even entering utterly false receipt data -- the user not fearing arrest because of their imminent departure to their home country.
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 160 These two dangers open up the possibility that the machine could dispense a refund when none is due, solely because the best data available to the machine is erroneous.
The obvious method of protection against #2 would be to have machine recognition of each receipt, which as of this date would be very difficult due to the wide variety of receipts, papers and the conditions of the receipts. It is, perhaps, an intractable problem. Receipt recognition, however, would not protect against false and stolen identifications: for that a solid identity verification method is required.
170 It is desirable that there be a process in which both said problems are addressed. The process, as shown in flowchart #2, would allow a user to receive his refund immediately, and offer assurance that the user is not fraudulent, no matter what country they have come from.
Identity verification of a user solely with a credit card is difficult: there are often forged credit cards available.
Because many people from developed countries are now in possession of credit, debit and banking cards, this fact can be exploited by this process to address both disadvantages.
180 Not only with bank cards anymore however, many users with credit cards now are receiving personal identification numbers (hereinafter referred to as a PIN) as well. Because it is unlikely that forgers would have access to bank CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 central computers, forged credit cards generally do not have PINs. This allows a reasonably solid verification of the identity of the user involved. If the user does not have a credit card with a PIN, the device asks for a bank card/debit card and uses its PIN to verify identity.
However, this leaves remaining the problem of falsified 190 receipts, mistake prone users and outright fraud.
This problem can be addressed by requiring the user to sign a standard credit card slip (physically or electronically) with an agreement stating that any errors or adjustments of their sales tax refund will be billed back to their credit card, thereby recouping any overpayment of a refund.
Hereinafter "swipe" shall be interpreted to mean any action by use of a credit, debit or bank card, including, but not limited to insertion or passing over, through or past a card reader for the transmission of information.
200 The invention, as exemplified by two preferred embodiments, flowchart #1 and flowchart #2, is described with reference to the drawings in which:
Flowchart #1 is a simpler implementation which, while including computer aided instruction, avoids the necessity to fully verify a user's identity and airline ticket by not supplying a refund immediately.
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 Flowchart #2 is another embodiment of the automated, public system of immediate sales tax refunds. Along with computer instruction, it verifies a user's 210 identity, scans and stores their airline ticket and credit card information and therefore prevent fraud and can bill back overpayments that have been refunded.
Flowchart #l and flowchart #2 are generally identical insofar as the following describes:
Said flowcharts instruct the user to choose their preferred language 2. If the user, at any point in the process, as diagrammed in 4, takes longer than 15 seconds to reply to a prompt by the machine, the machine will prompt the user to reply if they need more time, otherwise, the machine resets 220 itself for the next user. The user swipes their credit, debit, or bank card through a card reader at 6 to prevent the frivolous usage of the machine, although the user is not billed until the completion of the transaction. In flowchart #l, this step can be replaced by a step that requires the insertion of money, which, because the user has pre-paid, results in the non-necessity to verify identity in said flowchart. The machine would read their name off of the credit card 6, to reduce the manual entry of items by one step and therefore reduce errors.
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 230 Residency, 22, is a difficult problem in that it appears that it has not been entirely formally set, and can be altered in definition. However, the current general definition for non-residency for individuals is that members of the Canadian Armed Forces and employees of the federal and provincial government stationed overseas and their families are not legal residents.
If the user is applying on behalf of a group, such as a family, said user must enter each name (24,26). These names are stored internally as they must be entered on the 240 outputted form.
The main loop begins, as the user must specify the province that the receipt is from (28, 30). This is required so that the machine is able to internally reference the tax rates of each province. The rate of each province, and whether or not the provincial sales tax is refunded in that instance must be tracked in the computer. Step 32 requires the user to specify what "type" of receipt it is, food, lodging, items being exported within 60 days, services or transportation. Food, certain types of lodging as 250 diagrammed in 36, services and transportation are not eligible for a refund. Tour group receipts are credited at only half of their tax value.
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 38 instructs the user to enter the amount of the receipt.
In the case of lodging, the user is instructed that this includes any services that were included for the inclusive price, such as breakfasts. The user must also be informed that the receipt must show the number of nights of accommodation, otherwise it is not eligible for a refund.
If the receipt is less than $50, 42, it is not considered 260 sufficient and is not eligible for a refund. If the receipt exceeds $1000 dollars, 40 and is not lodging, then the machine would inform the user that evidence of exportation should be included for "high value/' items, and items such as cars require evidence of foreign registration mailed in as well. Foreign registration evidence for items such as vehicles must obviously be remitted at a later date.
Assuming the user has completed the data entry of all of the receipts 44, the machine tests to see if the total of the receipts before taxes exceeds $200, 46, and if not the user 270 is not eligible for a refund.
The user must then input their arrival, 48, and departure date, 50, from Canada. This is a required input field on the form. This is also used to calculate at 54 whether the machine needs to inquire about all lodging, 56, to find out if there were any stays that were greater than 30 days. If so the lodging receipts that are for greater than 30 days CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 are rejected, 58. Note that this step could have occurred elsewhere in this process. Lodging receipts can be inputted separately from other receipts and then tested, or each 280 lodging receipt could require a date of arrival and departure for each domicile and the test calculated directly from that, however the essence of the process is not altered. 62 is responsible for maximising the refund available to the user through a "quick calculation option,"
66, which is simply claiming $5 per day for each type of tax up to 15 days, otherwise if not greater than the normal calculation, 68 is executed. Non resident business can only use the quick calculation option only for tour packages, 60.
The loop returns, 64, if there are more lodging receipts to 290 analyse.
Once the user has completed inputting their name, 70, the machine outputs the form, with a copy for the user's records, 80, the user then puts the receipts with the form in a provided envelope, 82, and places the envelope back into the machine, 84. The machine is now able to bill the user, 86. This billing can occur at nearly any point in this process, however the essence of the process is not altered.
Flowchart #2 is another embodiment of the invention and can be implemented in the following manner: the user steps up 300 to the sales tax refund machine, swipes their credit card CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 through and enters the PIN, 6, 8, and 10. If their credit card does not have a PIN, they then swipe their bank card through and enter its PIN. As well, a video camera in the machine would take a picture of the user 12 (to help prevent the use of stolen cards with PINs) and stores it 14. This step is entirely optional, adding a small amount of additional assurance against fraud. The PIN would be verified against their bank's computer 10 and the user would then be shown an agreement 16 explaining that any 310 overpayment will be billed back to them, which the user must agree to, 18, by signing a form or signing on an electronic pad before continuing. Once the user signs that form, the user shows evidence of their leaving the country, such as an airline ticket along with any form of identification for scanning by the machine 20. The user then begins to enter their personal and sales tax refund data 22 into the form with the assistance of the computer, the form is outputted and the user signs it (either electronically or physically), 73. The user then remits the receipts along with the form 320 into the machine, 76, and their sales tax refund is dispensed immediately by means of a bill dispenser, 78.
Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated, the present invention is not limited to the features of these embodiments, but includes all variations and modifications within the scope of the claims.
duty free shops that offer sales tax refunds for all of Canada, which works out to a approximately half a million eligible persons per duty free shop. Most duty free shops are located near the US/Canada border and must verify that the eligible party is crossing the border directly from Canada to the United States in their vehicle. 3 However, duty free shops do not normally give sales tax refunds to an eligible party that is departing by air, and the other businesses that do offer refunds are unusual and not easy to locate.
Ultimately, this leaves very few options available to the eligible air traveller who is departing - they must understand a form well enough to complete it, despite the foreign language, the acronyms and the specialised definitions, hand check each receipt to see if it qualifies, then trust the mail with it. Of course, there is the additional factor that many people who are visitors to 3 The solution for the problem of where an eligible person should drop off the form was suggested by a few of the duty free shops, which they call "Circling the Flag." A person who is leaving the country by air puts the items that they have purchased in a rented or borrowed car. Then the person drives to a valid duty free shop located on the border (nearly all of them are located there) and proceeds to get their refund. They then have to drive to the United States, where they "circle the flag/' and come right back to Canada.
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 another country who don't speak the language are somewhat embarrassed to ask for help. Of course, there is generally no help available in their home country for a foreign sales tax refund form.
It is highly desirable that there be a convenient one-stop automated method of assistance and remission of the sales tax form refund. This invention would overcome the difficulty of locating an acceptable depository, and the inherent instructional problems. Said process can be implemented in a variety of ways but the most sensible is implementation by means of a vending machine type apparatus convenient to the public.
100 The simplest implementation would be a "pay mailbox" which would have instructions printed in different languages on the exterior. Said device would be a container or bin which would have as its sole purpose to open after a user has inserted a coin or other payment. As an example, the user would insert a coin, and the container or bin would open at which point the user would submit a sales tax refund form, which would then be forwarded to the government. The user would be paying solely for an essentially private courier service for the purposes of advancing a form to the 110 government more rapidly, postage free.
This is of debatable honesty and most certainly is lnconvenlent .
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 The most complex implementation of said invention comprises elements of processing such as a signed VISA statement as collateral security in the case of on site-refunds of sales taxes, with visa card PIN identification (for user identification), computer based instruction and a remittance process for the forms. Said machine would allow a party to receive step by step assistance, outputting of the form for their approval and signature, and a built-in convenient drop off point where said sales tax refund form would be picked 120 up and delivered to the government. This invention relates to this process of assistance and remission of the sales tax forms.
According to one aspect the invention consists of the process as diagrammed in flowchart #l implemented in a convenient public place by means of a computer (data processing system), printer, payment acceptor to pay for this service, and bin. This process bypasses the necessity of true identification of the user and the necessity for a method of collateral for any immediate refund, by settling 130 for a delayed refund that would be mailed to the user after government approval of the application, receipt(s) and form.
Said process may be implemented in a vending-machine type apparatus, or equipment standing alone. The process may be entirely mechanised, or the process may have the payment for the service be accepted by an operator. Because said CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 process includes the data processing system aspect of the invention and has been disclosed in the flowchart in Figure #2, a programmer skilled in the art of programming, tax law, linguistics and hardware manufacture can address this 140 invention in any variety of computer programming languages which can be executed on many different types and brands of data processing machines and appropriate hardware.
According to another aspect the invention consists of a process (flowchart #2) to deliver sales tax refunds within minutes of the person entering the data into the form. The disadvantages of allowing a machine to immediately supply the sales tax refund are twofold:
l.There is a difficulty establishing the identity of the machine's user, due to the enormous range of 150 international identifications that would have to be recognised, thus opening up the large possibility of fraud.
2.There is no protection in the event that the machine's user makes an error, such as misreading a receipt, entering incorrect data, misrepresenting the eligibility of certain receipts, entering receipts multiple times into different machines, or even entering utterly false receipt data -- the user not fearing arrest because of their imminent departure to their home country.
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 160 These two dangers open up the possibility that the machine could dispense a refund when none is due, solely because the best data available to the machine is erroneous.
The obvious method of protection against #2 would be to have machine recognition of each receipt, which as of this date would be very difficult due to the wide variety of receipts, papers and the conditions of the receipts. It is, perhaps, an intractable problem. Receipt recognition, however, would not protect against false and stolen identifications: for that a solid identity verification method is required.
170 It is desirable that there be a process in which both said problems are addressed. The process, as shown in flowchart #2, would allow a user to receive his refund immediately, and offer assurance that the user is not fraudulent, no matter what country they have come from.
Identity verification of a user solely with a credit card is difficult: there are often forged credit cards available.
Because many people from developed countries are now in possession of credit, debit and banking cards, this fact can be exploited by this process to address both disadvantages.
180 Not only with bank cards anymore however, many users with credit cards now are receiving personal identification numbers (hereinafter referred to as a PIN) as well. Because it is unlikely that forgers would have access to bank CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 central computers, forged credit cards generally do not have PINs. This allows a reasonably solid verification of the identity of the user involved. If the user does not have a credit card with a PIN, the device asks for a bank card/debit card and uses its PIN to verify identity.
However, this leaves remaining the problem of falsified 190 receipts, mistake prone users and outright fraud.
This problem can be addressed by requiring the user to sign a standard credit card slip (physically or electronically) with an agreement stating that any errors or adjustments of their sales tax refund will be billed back to their credit card, thereby recouping any overpayment of a refund.
Hereinafter "swipe" shall be interpreted to mean any action by use of a credit, debit or bank card, including, but not limited to insertion or passing over, through or past a card reader for the transmission of information.
200 The invention, as exemplified by two preferred embodiments, flowchart #1 and flowchart #2, is described with reference to the drawings in which:
Flowchart #1 is a simpler implementation which, while including computer aided instruction, avoids the necessity to fully verify a user's identity and airline ticket by not supplying a refund immediately.
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 Flowchart #2 is another embodiment of the automated, public system of immediate sales tax refunds. Along with computer instruction, it verifies a user's 210 identity, scans and stores their airline ticket and credit card information and therefore prevent fraud and can bill back overpayments that have been refunded.
Flowchart #l and flowchart #2 are generally identical insofar as the following describes:
Said flowcharts instruct the user to choose their preferred language 2. If the user, at any point in the process, as diagrammed in 4, takes longer than 15 seconds to reply to a prompt by the machine, the machine will prompt the user to reply if they need more time, otherwise, the machine resets 220 itself for the next user. The user swipes their credit, debit, or bank card through a card reader at 6 to prevent the frivolous usage of the machine, although the user is not billed until the completion of the transaction. In flowchart #l, this step can be replaced by a step that requires the insertion of money, which, because the user has pre-paid, results in the non-necessity to verify identity in said flowchart. The machine would read their name off of the credit card 6, to reduce the manual entry of items by one step and therefore reduce errors.
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 230 Residency, 22, is a difficult problem in that it appears that it has not been entirely formally set, and can be altered in definition. However, the current general definition for non-residency for individuals is that members of the Canadian Armed Forces and employees of the federal and provincial government stationed overseas and their families are not legal residents.
If the user is applying on behalf of a group, such as a family, said user must enter each name (24,26). These names are stored internally as they must be entered on the 240 outputted form.
The main loop begins, as the user must specify the province that the receipt is from (28, 30). This is required so that the machine is able to internally reference the tax rates of each province. The rate of each province, and whether or not the provincial sales tax is refunded in that instance must be tracked in the computer. Step 32 requires the user to specify what "type" of receipt it is, food, lodging, items being exported within 60 days, services or transportation. Food, certain types of lodging as 250 diagrammed in 36, services and transportation are not eligible for a refund. Tour group receipts are credited at only half of their tax value.
CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 38 instructs the user to enter the amount of the receipt.
In the case of lodging, the user is instructed that this includes any services that were included for the inclusive price, such as breakfasts. The user must also be informed that the receipt must show the number of nights of accommodation, otherwise it is not eligible for a refund.
If the receipt is less than $50, 42, it is not considered 260 sufficient and is not eligible for a refund. If the receipt exceeds $1000 dollars, 40 and is not lodging, then the machine would inform the user that evidence of exportation should be included for "high value/' items, and items such as cars require evidence of foreign registration mailed in as well. Foreign registration evidence for items such as vehicles must obviously be remitted at a later date.
Assuming the user has completed the data entry of all of the receipts 44, the machine tests to see if the total of the receipts before taxes exceeds $200, 46, and if not the user 270 is not eligible for a refund.
The user must then input their arrival, 48, and departure date, 50, from Canada. This is a required input field on the form. This is also used to calculate at 54 whether the machine needs to inquire about all lodging, 56, to find out if there were any stays that were greater than 30 days. If so the lodging receipts that are for greater than 30 days CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 are rejected, 58. Note that this step could have occurred elsewhere in this process. Lodging receipts can be inputted separately from other receipts and then tested, or each 280 lodging receipt could require a date of arrival and departure for each domicile and the test calculated directly from that, however the essence of the process is not altered. 62 is responsible for maximising the refund available to the user through a "quick calculation option,"
66, which is simply claiming $5 per day for each type of tax up to 15 days, otherwise if not greater than the normal calculation, 68 is executed. Non resident business can only use the quick calculation option only for tour packages, 60.
The loop returns, 64, if there are more lodging receipts to 290 analyse.
Once the user has completed inputting their name, 70, the machine outputs the form, with a copy for the user's records, 80, the user then puts the receipts with the form in a provided envelope, 82, and places the envelope back into the machine, 84. The machine is now able to bill the user, 86. This billing can occur at nearly any point in this process, however the essence of the process is not altered.
Flowchart #2 is another embodiment of the invention and can be implemented in the following manner: the user steps up 300 to the sales tax refund machine, swipes their credit card CA 0221~43~ 1997-11-07 through and enters the PIN, 6, 8, and 10. If their credit card does not have a PIN, they then swipe their bank card through and enter its PIN. As well, a video camera in the machine would take a picture of the user 12 (to help prevent the use of stolen cards with PINs) and stores it 14. This step is entirely optional, adding a small amount of additional assurance against fraud. The PIN would be verified against their bank's computer 10 and the user would then be shown an agreement 16 explaining that any 310 overpayment will be billed back to them, which the user must agree to, 18, by signing a form or signing on an electronic pad before continuing. Once the user signs that form, the user shows evidence of their leaving the country, such as an airline ticket along with any form of identification for scanning by the machine 20. The user then begins to enter their personal and sales tax refund data 22 into the form with the assistance of the computer, the form is outputted and the user signs it (either electronically or physically), 73. The user then remits the receipts along with the form 320 into the machine, 76, and their sales tax refund is dispensed immediately by means of a bill dispenser, 78.
Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated, the present invention is not limited to the features of these embodiments, but includes all variations and modifications within the scope of the claims.
Claims (21)
1. A process for assistance with sales tax refund forms by means of a data processing device located in a publicly accessible place without the need for outside instruction or aid.
2. A process as claimed in claim 1, requiring payment for the service prior to the completion of the sales tax refund form.
3. A process as claimed in claim 1, requiring payment for the service after the completion of the sales tax refund form.
4. A process as claimed in claim 1, requiring payment by the user at any point.
5. A process as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the sales tax refund form is outputted for the approval of the user.
6. A process as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the sales tax refund form is outputted for the signature of the user.
7. A process as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, requiring payment by the user as a percentage of the refund.
8. A process as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein the user deposits the sales tax refund form for delivery to a government by means of an envelope acceptance mechanism attached to a data processing device.
9. A process as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein the user deposits the form for delivery to a government into a container at substantially the same location.
10. A process as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein the form is outputted for the signature of the user by electronic means.
11. A process as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the refund is provided by an operator or other manual means.
12. A process as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the refund is provided mechanically after completion and approval of the form by means of a bill dispenser attached to the data processing device.
13. A process as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the refund is provided immediately after completion and approval of the form by means of a credit to a credit card
14. A process as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the refund is provided immediately after completion and approval of the form by means of a credit to a debit card
15. A process as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the refund is provided immediately after completion and approval of the form by means of a credit to a bank account.
16. A process as in Flowchart #1 for execution by means of a data processing device located in a publicly accessible place.
17. A process as in Flowchart #2 for execution by means of a data processing device located in a publicly accessible place.
18. Any coin operated container or bin that requires advance payment solely for the purpose of the unlocking or opening of the container or bin for the depositing of a form.
19. Any container or bin that requires advance payment solely for the purpose of unlocking or opening of the container or bin for the depositing of a form.
20. Any container or bin that requires advance payment solely for the purpose of unlocking or opening of the container or bin for the depositing of a form that is not a payment to be forwarded.
21. A process executed by means of a data processing device having:
~ Automated sales tax refund form assistance;
~ A method of remitting completed sales tax forms to the government by means of a container or bin located at substantially the same location;
~ A location that is publicly accessible and convenient;
~ A choice of languages available;
~ A fee for use.
~ Automated sales tax refund form assistance;
~ A method of remitting completed sales tax forms to the government by means of a container or bin located at substantially the same location;
~ A location that is publicly accessible and convenient;
~ A choice of languages available;
~ A fee for use.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2215435 CA2215435A1 (en) | 1997-11-07 | 1997-11-07 | Automated process for sales tax refund processing by means of publicly accessible machines |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2215435 CA2215435A1 (en) | 1997-11-07 | 1997-11-07 | Automated process for sales tax refund processing by means of publicly accessible machines |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2215435A1 true CA2215435A1 (en) | 1999-05-07 |
Family
ID=29275002
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2215435 Abandoned CA2215435A1 (en) | 1997-11-07 | 1997-11-07 | Automated process for sales tax refund processing by means of publicly accessible machines |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2215435A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP3144866A1 (en) * | 2015-09-17 | 2017-03-22 | Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha | Tax exemption processing system, information processing apparatus and method for inputting electronic signature |
-
1997
- 1997-11-07 CA CA 2215435 patent/CA2215435A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP3144866A1 (en) * | 2015-09-17 | 2017-03-22 | Toshiba TEC Kabushiki Kaisha | Tax exemption processing system, information processing apparatus and method for inputting electronic signature |
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