taxact-browser-automation-patterns

name	taxact-browser-automation-patterns
description	Patterns for automating TaxAct Business online (Ionic SPA) via Chrome browser MCP tools — field interaction, navigation, shadow DOM handling
version	1.0.0
source	auto-extracted
extracted	"2026-04-15T00:00:00.000Z"
metadata	{"tags":["taxact","browser-automation","ionic","tax-filing","chrome-mcp"]}

TaxAct Business Browser Automation Patterns

When to Use

Automating data entry in TaxAct Business online (www.taxact.com/online/) using Claude-in-Chrome MCP tools.

Key Architecture

TaxAct is an Ionic SPA — single-page app with shadow DOM components. Standard DOM queries often miss elements rendered inside web components.

Navigation

// Continue to next page
document.getElementById('CONTINUE').click();

// Page detection (wait for SPA to render)
setTimeout(() => {
  document.title = document.body.innerText.substring(300, 1200);
}, 3000);

// Top-level tabs
document.getElementById('first-tab').click();   // About the Business
document.getElementById('third-tab').click();    // Federal
document.getElementById('fourth-tab').click();   // State
document.getElementById('fifth-tab').click();    // Review
document.getElementById('sixth-tab').click();    // Filing

Field Interaction

TaxAct uses React-style controlled inputs. Direct .value = assignment is ignored. Use the native setter pattern:

const nativeSetter = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(
  window.HTMLInputElement.prototype, 'value'
).set;
nativeSetter.call(field, 'value');
field.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', {bubbles: true}));
field.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', {bubbles: true}));
field.dispatchEvent(new Event('blur', {bubbles: true}));

Field Discovery

Fields have IDs like FTXT_FEDERAL_317_1_12. No aria-labels. Map by Y-position:

const fields = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('input[id^="FTXT_"]'))
  .map(f => ({id: f.id, y: f.getBoundingClientRect().y, val: f.value}))
  .sort((a, b) => a.y - b.y);

Radio Buttons

Pattern: FRAD_FEDERAL_NNN_N_NN with name FRAD_DEFAULT:

const radio = document.getElementById('FRAD_FEDERAL_146_1_25');
radio.checked = true;
radio.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', {bubbles: true}));

Checkboxes

Pattern: FCHK_FEDERAL_NNN_N_NNN:

const cb = document.getElementById('FCHK_FEDERAL_17_1_304');
cb.checked = true;
cb.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', {bubbles: true}));

Select/Picklist

TaxAct picklists have a hidden <select> and a visible picklist-input text field. Set both:

sel.value = '44';
sel.dispatchEvent(new Event('change', {bubbles: true}));
// Also update visible picklist-input if present

Review Links (Federal Deductions)

On the Federal deductions summary, "Review" links are sequential <a> elements. Index from ~34:

• Compensation of officers = index 34
• Salaries and wages = index 35
• Taxes and licenses = index 39
• Other deductions = index 52

Pitfalls

1. Stale tab titles — SPA navigation doesn't update document.title. Always re-read with document.body.innerText.
2. Shadow DOM — some pages (especially Alerts) render in Ionic shadow DOM. The read_page accessibility tree may show content the DOM walker cannot find. Use read_page with filter: "interactive" as fallback.
3. Click timing — after .click(), wait 3s before reading new page content. The SPA needs time to render.
4. Balance sheet rounding — TaxAct computes depreciation independently. Expect $1-3K variance from manual calculations. Adjust accumulated depreciation by $1 if needed to balance Schedule L.
5. No Yes/No buttons — some pages use <input type="radio"> instead of <button>. Check both.