Below are bullet points from our opening presentation at the beginning of the All Partner call before opening up for Q&A from the field.

• Discussed the challenges we experienced with the software on February 5^th, 11^th and 12^th
• We currently have web reports turned off so we can make sure they are optimized and do not have a negative impact on the system.  We hope to have them up soon, possibly after our maintenance window on Sunday.
• If you do get an unexpected error at any time, we strongly recommend you close the browser (not just the tab) and start a new instance of the browser.
• Watch the blog for state announcements regarding delays in acknowledgements and rejects
• The “Back” button is once again available at the state level, replacing the “Cancel” button
• Still getting some IRS 905 and 202 rejects.  If something changes with your EFIN, you need to notify your SPEC RM and TaxSlayer support rather than just changing it in the software.
• If your site is experiencing slowness loading the list of customers on the Client list page, you can go to Office Setup and lower the number of returns to display from 999 to something lower.  This will change your client search to only display the last 100 returns instead of all returns.
• The error links on the e-file page now take you to the error
• Selecting the Ready to Re-transmit button on the submission page in the e-file section when working rejects will automatically add the return to the transmission list.

The following are questions and corresponding answers that we received on the Partner Call that was held on Thursday, February 1st.  We are posting the ones that are most applicable to all sites.

Q: We are seeing PA Local Return issues with wages not carrying from Federal entry nor performing any calculations.

• We have asked this volunteer this volunteer to e-mail [email protected] with an EFIN and last 4 so we can review.

Q: Do rejected transmissions that are resubmitted stay as rejected until the accepted ack comes back?

• Yes, when rejected returns are resubmitted for processing, their status will not change until a different acknowledgement is returned (an accepted acknowledgement).

Q: How long do transmitted returns that have been stuck take to get their ack once issue is resolved?

• When stuck transmissions become “unstuck”, it can take up to several hours before a site may see acknowledgements because the queue requires time to release the number of returns that may have been stuck.

Q: Recommended browser to use?

• We personally use Google Chrome (Kim and Craig) but we always recommend to volunteers to use the latest version of their preferred Internet browser.

Q: Update on 2015 returns issue when trying to access E-file?

• This is reported as Issue 2705. It is currently being worked and we have asked that the priority be updated with development for a quicker resolution. Once fixed, it will be posted in our Release Notes on the VITA/TCE Blog.

Q: Reject Clients number not lowering when fixing returns?

• As returns listed in the Reject Clients menu are corrected, resubmitted, and accepted by the IRS and/or State, they will be removed from the Reject Clients menu.

Q: ETA on web reports (Management Reports) being turned back on?

• We do not have a specific ETA as our engineers and IT staff continue their investigations, but we are hopeful, web reports will be turned back on soon.

Q: Federal 1099-R information not transferring to MI, Schedule 1?

• We asked this volunteer to e-mail [email protected] with the EFIN and last 4 of a return that we can further review.

Q: When will printing MA returns not include the water mark “Do Not Mail”?

• Each software vendor must have their forms approved by each state for paper filing. Until these approvals are received, vendors must watermark their forms. Once we receive forms approval from MA, the watermark will be removed from the PDF’s.

Q: Issues with Transmissions from Transmission Menu not filing every return marked for e-file?

• This is specific to attempting to file returns using the limited return view per page. We recommend they expand the Transmission menu to show 100 returns per page. We have also opened Issue 2620 to review the root issue.

Q: Why do Print Sets not show EIN for 1099-R?

• We have asked this volunteer to contact support at [email protected] to provide additional information related to their question. We also noted that the Quality Review print set available to all sites includes the 1099-R and also includes the EIN.

Q: Status on Issue 2480 with MFS question being added back to the software?

• Issue 2480 is currently being tested within our pre-production environments. Assuming it passes all levels, the fix could be pushed live as early as Monday, February 18^th (note: not a hard delivery date).

The site will be placed in maintenance on Thursday, February 14th to release the below software updates.

NEW YORK

• Add the ability to adjust Mortgage Interest Paid on the NY return when the Federally reported amount may have been limited (NY still allows full Mortgage Interest Deduction if limited on Federal) (Issue 2659)

REVIEW RETURNS

• Correct an issue where available print set in the Review Returns menu were being cut off, not allowing a user to select the bottom listed print sets (Issue 2670)

STATE RETURNS

• Changing the “CANCEL” buttons to say “BACK” to match behavior in 2017 state returns (Issue 2297)

*Click here to download a PDF of our Cumulative Release Notes.

Software vendors received the below messaging from MA DOR.

“Please be advised that reject code F1-1172 which had been incorrectly rejecting some returns has been fixed. F1-1172: The Schedule E-1, line 20, loss amount must equal Schedule E-1, line 23, losses amount for royalties. Any incorrectly rejected returns can now be resubmitted.“

The site will be placed in maintenance on Wednesday, February 13th to release the below software updates.

CHILD TAX CREDIT (APPLIED for ITIN)

• Correct an issue where CTC was being calculated with listed qualifying person(s) were marked as having “Applied for ITIN”. They would still qualify for ODC assuming all other qualifications are met (Issue 2655)
  • Note: A separate issue will be opened to correct the 1040 View so the ODC checkbox is marked instead of CTC checkbox

FORM 3903

• Update the calculated mileage rate to 18 cents (Issue 2517)

VIRGINIA REJECT CODES 760ADJ-020, 763ADJ-073, and 760PYADJ-140

• Impacted VA returns with the above mentioned reject codes can resubmit those returns at this time.

*Click here to download a PDF of our Cumulative Release Notes.

1:38pm ET – We have been continuing to monitor and investigate internal systems and performance has maintained consistent.

1:08pm ET – Management Reports are still turned off at this time.

1:01pm ET – Real-time calculations (Refund Generator) are now back on in 2018 and normal program behavior has been consistent.

12:40:pm ET – Real-time calculations (Refund Generator) will be turned back on over the next several minutes. We have consistently seen normal operations for the past 30 minutes or so but are continuing to investigate.

12:26pm ET – No additional updates at this time as investigation continues.

12:11pm ET – No additional updates at this time. Still continuing to investigate while Real-time calculations are turned off.

11:54am ET – Real-time calculations (Refund Generator) has been turned off at this time.

11:49am ET – No additional updates at this time as investigation continues. Real-time calculations (Refund Generator) may be switched off but will update if and when that is the case.

11:35am ET – “Management Reports” have currently been turned off while our engineers continue to investigate sporadic reports of slowness.

11:27am ET – If experiencing slowness, you may also see delays in Summary/Print loading. If your Summary/Print menu appears to be spinning and not loading, click “Basic Information” from the left-hand navigation to exit the loop.

11:08am ET – We have received sporadic reports of slowness on the site and are beginning to investigate. If you are experiencing slowness, we recommend logging out and closing all browser windows (not just your current tab) and open a fresh session.

The site will be placed in maintenance on Tuesday, February 12th to release the below software updates.

CLIENT STATUS

• Correct a time-out issue when attempting to generate a PDF of an electronically filed submission from Client Status (Issue 2632)

COLORADO

• Correct an issue where the LTC credit was being allowed when the applicable income was above the allowed threshold (Issue 2599)

NEW YORK

• Correct an issue where “YES” selection for creating the NY Form Y was not staying saved for Yonkers Nonresident Earnings Tax (Issue 2636)

OREGON

• Correct an issue where allocated OR pensions inside the Part-Year program were not carrying to the PDF (Issue 2643)

REJECTED CLIENTS MENU

• Correct an issue where state reject listings are not also showing the reason why they were rejected (Issue 2621)

TRANSMISSION MENU

• Correct an issue where the phone number was not listed inside the Transmission Menu for applicable returns (Issue 2594)

*Click here to download a PDF of our Cumulative Release Notes.

12:28pm ET

The deployment has been applied to all servers. At this time, impacted sites with Rhode Island returns should now be able to access Summary/Print, see the Refund Generator with Results, and access E-file. Please let us know if you experience additional issues.

11:30am ET

The deployment for the fix is still occurring. As noted in the 10:47am ET update, deployment across all servers will take an hour or two before complete.

10:47am ET

The fix is currently being deployed at this time. For impacted sites with Rhode Island returns, calculations inside the returns should start to appear as the deployment continues. This will continue over the next couple of hours as the deployment continues across all servers.

10:37am ET

We anticipate having this resolved soon.

10:17am ET

Testing is still occurring in our pre-production levels before deploying live.

10:01am ET

The fix is currently being tested in our pre-production levels.

9:49am ET

Our engineers believe the issue has been identified and are working to resolve.

9:35am ET

Issue 2699 has been opened to investigate sporadic reports of the calc breaking in a return when a Rhode Island state return is added. We are looking into this.

The site will be placed in maintenance on Monday, February 11th to release the below software updates.

CALIFORNIA

• Correct a print issue for CA HoH (Form 3532) where the “NO” selections for Lines 3a and 3b were not being marked on the PDF (Issue 2579)

IOWA

• Correct an issue with Federally reported Tax-Exempt INT and how it carries to IA Schedule B (Issue 2546)

KENTUCKY

• Add an allocation field for Capital Gains when KY is Married Filing Combined return (Issue 2569)

*Click here to download a PDF of our Cumulative Release Notes.