The site will be placed in maintenance on Friday, February 8th to release back-end software updates.

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

2/7/2019

Issue 2538 is now resolved. Current functionality where 1099-R’s marked as IRA/SEP/SIMPLE will still be automatically subtracted from the WI return, when applicable. If a 1099-R is from a Pension or Annuity, the qualifying portion will be entered inside of the WI return. There is a new “Retirement Income Exclusion Worksheet” menu to enter the qualifying portion(s) of Pension and/or Annuity income. Text within this menu, as shown below, indicates IRA distributions have already been carried over to assist in avoiding double-entry by the preparer. Also, a state prompt was added to the WI program (shown below) that will indicate to the preparer pension income has been found on the Federal return. This prompt only shows when first creating the WI return and only when pension income is reported on the Federal return.

2/6/2019

Issue 2538 was not included in this morning’s deployment. Once deployed, there will be a new “Retirement Income Exclusion Worksheet” menu as well as a prompt that users will see when first creating a WI return to complete this menu if pension income is found on the Federal return.

2/5/2019

Issue 2538 should be pushed live in the next deployment which should be this week. Possibly tomorrow (Wednesday) at the earliest. Once live, this post will be updated to detail what was included in the update.

2/1/2019

We have opened Issue #2538 to correct a previous WI update where “Code 26” for the WI retirement subtraction was removed as a drop-down selection within the Wisconsin program. Currently, “Code 26” is automatically calculated based on Federal return entries when a 1099-R is present and marked as an IRA/SEP/SIMPLE but 1099-R’s that are from Pensions or Annuities are not being included in the automatic calculation. Once Issue 2538 has been resolved, additional details will be provided in this post as to what was included in the update.

At this time, we would advise holding WI returns with pension/annuity income that would qualify for this subtraction until this post has been updated. We anticipate this being resolved next week. However, any Federal returns can still be transmitted as usual. Impacted WI returns can be transmitted as a “State Only” once resolved.

The site will be placed in maintenance on Thursday, February 7th to release the below software updates.

CALIFORNIA

• Correct an issue where an Additional Subtraction entry for the Schedule CA was not carrying to Part II, Line 12, Column B (Issue 2550)
• Correct an issue where the full amount of Federally reported Cash Gifts to Charity was not pulling to Schedule CA, Line 11. The dollar value of Charitable Miles was not carrying (Issue 2551)

MISSOURI

• Removing an e-file block specific to the MO-PTC when rent paid is more than household income. This is due to some taxpayers using savings accounts to assist in paying rent (Issue 2558)

NEW JERSEY

• Correct an issue where an E-file Block for NJ Form 2450 was being prompted in error (Issue 2595)

WISCONSIN

• Correct an issue where an automatic subtraction calculation was being removed from the return when four (4) additional entries were made inside the Other Subtractions menu (Issue 2529)
• Adding a Retirement Income Exclusion Worksheet menu to the Subtractions from Income menu. This will help users properly deduct qualifying pension income that is not subject to WI tax (Issue 2538)
  • For additional information, please click here.

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

Michigan Department of Treasury send the below messaging to software vendors today.

“Due to the recent weather closures for state of Michigan offices, the Michigan Department of Treasury is in the process of issuing acknowledgments for e-filed income tax returns. It is anticipated that this process will be caught up by the close of business Friday, February 8.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

The site will be placed in maintenance on Wednesday, February 6th to release the below software updates.

ESTIMATED PAYMENT VOUCHERS FOR NEXT YEAR

• Update the 2nd and 3rd quarter dates to match current dates within the Estimated Payments Menu (Issue 2479)

FORM 1040-V

• Update the 1040-V PDF to include the mailing addresses which are now on Page 2 of the voucher (Issue 2544)

NEW JERSEY

• Correct an issue where an incorrect amount was pulling to Worksheet F, Line 5 (Issue 2432)

PRINT SETS

• Correct an issue where the selected amount of copies was not generating in a custom print set. For example, creating a print set with 3 copies of Form 1040 but only 1 was being generated (Issue 2575)

QBI UPDATE (Based on Final IRS Regulations Issued 1/19/2019)

• Update QBI calculation to comply with final regulations issued by the IRS on January 19th, 2019 (Issue 2465)
  • To arrive at “Total Qualified Business Income (line 2 of QBID Worksheet), the QBI shown on line 1 is reduced by:
    • Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction
    • Deductible portion of Self-Employment Tax
    • Self-Employment Retirement Plan Contributions

REPORTS

• Correct an issue where the States Non-Accepted Returns Report was not yielding results (Issue 2559)

STATE AND LOCAL REFUND

• Correct a calculation issue when it was indicated a TP was Over 65 and/or Blind (Issue 2515)

TUITION AND FEES DEDUCTION

• Removing the Tuition and Fees Deduction selection when accessing the Education Credits menu from Credits. This was already removed as an option from the Adjustments menu (Issue 2525)

WISCONSIN

• Correct an issue where certain subtractions claimed on the WI return should not result in a negative income value (Issue 2526)

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

2/6/2019

Arizona Department of Revenue sent the below message late yesterday evening. AZ acknowledgements should begin populating at your sites as they work through their backlog.

“Thank you all for your patience. The issue with BR901 has been resolved. Please resume all activity (sending submissions, calling acknowledgements, etc.). Let us know if you additional questions.”

**Arizona also sent erroneous Reject Code 901’s. If your site had any AZ return rejected for Reject Code 901, AZ has stated these can be resubmitted.

2/5/2019

Software vendors have received the below messaging from the Arizona Department of Revenue.

“Please be advised that Arizona has temporarily suspended receiving submissions from the IRS. We will notify you when we start accepting returns.”

Arizona returns can still be transmitted to TaxSlayer as normal, just be advised there will be a delay in receiving acknowledgements.

The site will be placed in maintenance on Tuesday, February 5th at 5:00am ET to release back-end updates to the software.

The below screenshots highlight how Issue ID 2230 was resolved.

For 2018, the “Full-year Health Care Coverage or Exempt” checkbox should be marked when the below scenarios are presented on a tax return:

1. Every household member has full-year health insurance coverage
2. Every household member has full-year health care coverage exemptions
3. Every household member has a combination of health care cover and coverage exemptions that cover every month of 2018.

With 2018, if the “Full-year Health Care Coverage or Exempt” checkbox is marked, the IRS does not require Form 8965 to be included with the return. This means the IRS does not require specific health care coverage exemptions to be reported per household member. The below screenshot is an excerpt from Page 18 of the 2018 Form 1040 instructions on irs.gov.

For this reason, we were able to add text to two (2) existing Health Insurance questions to satisfy this new checkbox. Below highlights the new two questions that now have added text to support marking the “Full-year Health Care Insurance or Exempt” checkbox on the 1040 and will not generate Form 8965 with the return since would not apply.