A computer-implemented method for gathering user-related tax data for use with tax preparation software includes a computing device executing a data capture utility configured to connect to one or more remotely located data sources, wherein the data capture utility captures user-specific tax data from the one or more remotely located data sources and stores the captured data in a data store. The computing device executes a tax logic engine configured to read data from the data store and determine the completeness of the data contained within the data store. The computing device communicates a message to the user regarding the level of completeness of the data contained within the data store.