6/7/18 – 12:51pm ET – 2014 real-time calcs and prints are now rendering.

6/7/18 – 11:23am ET – Issue #2040 has been opened to investigate why real-time calcs and PDF’s are not generating in the 2014 software. This impacts access to the “Summary/Print”  and “E-file” menus as well as generating PDF’s. Programs 2015-2017 are not impacted.

This post will be updated once this issue has been resolved.

This will be the re-scheduled deployment from Thursday, May 31st. This update will mostly include back-end work.

• PA Local Form – Remove the second mention of “for” within Basic Information when asking “City for Which You are Filing for:“
• Release Notes – Update the URL within Release Notes on the left navigation bar to redirect users to the Release Notes category in the VITA/TCE Blog
• Review Returns – Previously, with a Security Template that did not allow full view of the SSN from “Client List” still showed the full SSN when inside the “Review Returns” menu. Update released today also masks the first 5-digits of the Taxpayer SSN within the “Review Returns” menu for users with a security template that does not allow full SSN view.

There is a scheduled deployment on Thursday, May 31st at 5:00am ET to release some updates. This update will mostly include back-end work.

• PA Local Form – Remove the second mention of “for” within Basic Information when asking “City for Which You are Filing for:“

We will be placing the site in maintenance on Monday, May 14th at 5:00am ET to release a series of updates.

• 1040-PR using 1040 – Ability to adjust earned income specific to CTC/ACTC when claiming less than 3 qualifying dependents (Issue #1793)
• Zip Code Update
  • 99354 – Richland, WA (Issue #1980)
• 1040-NR/Schedule OI – Text update within the “Travel Dates” menu to clarify only travel dates specific to the current filing year should be provided
• GA – Remove the automatic e-mail pre-fill entry within GA Basic Information (Issue #2000)
• KS – Correct an issue where excluded SSS disability income was not removed from K-40H household income calculation (Issue #407)
• MI – Correct a PDF display issue where the percentage entry for Veteran Disability (1040-CR2) was not carrying to the return (Issue #1991)
• VT – Correct a PDF display issue where the Form 144 entries for additional household members (if more than 2) were not carrying to a new statement in the PDF (Issue #1999)

Schedule to be released tomorrow, May 3rd!

When accessing the W-2G menu, right below the Gambling Winnings field, there will also a new Gambling Losses field. This allows users to go ahead and enter the losses applicable to the reported winnings within the W-2G. These losses will automatically carry to Line 28 of the Schedule A and will no longer require the preparer to remember to report gambling losses later during return preparation.

Note: Any gambling winnings not reported on a W-2G, applicable losses will still be entered within the Itemized Deduction menu and will add to the total gambling losses carried from W-2G entries.

The site will be placed in maintenance on Thursday, May 3rd at 5:00am ET to release some updates.

• State PDF View – Details can be found on this blog post here
• 1040 View Entry Method Update – This update, when utilizing the “1040 View” for return preparation, will return the user back to the 1040 View instead of the regular menu such as Income, Adjustments, Itemized Deductions, etc. This update eliminates the current requirement of the user to return to “Summary/Print” to then click on the next line entry needed.
  • When clicking Line 7 for Wages and Salaries, the user will be directed to the W-2 entry screen as current functionality dictates. After adding the W-2(s), when clicking “Continue” on the W-2 grid screen, instead of being taken to the main Income menu, you will be returned to Summary/Print (1040 View) to click on the next line item for the return being prepared.
• W-2G – Addition of a “Gambling Losses” field under the gambling winnings field where the loss entry will automatically carry to the Schedule A.
  • Click here for additional details
• IL – Remove the “$” sign within the allocation entry field for dependents to reduce confusion as to the value being requested (Issue #1975)
• ME – Remove a hard-coded “X” on the PDF on Schedule 1, Line D (Issue #1981)
• CT – Correct a calculation issue on MFS CT returns when it is indicated the Spouse lived with the Taxpayer at any point during the year and Social Security Benefits have been reported (Issue #1895)
• LA – Correct a validation error occurring as a result of the “Partnership” name not carrying to the PDF (Issue #1964)
• MN – Correct a PDF display issue for the M1REF line 1a is blank when a value is expected (Issue #1995)

Scheduled to be released live on 5/3/2018!

We wanted to provide an early look at a new enhancement coming soon – State PDF View! After completing a state return from the State Section, you will soon see a printer icon (shown below) on the state return grid. Clicking the printer icon next to a state return will open a new window to display the PDF of only that state.

The “Report Customization” menu within “Configuration” is an enhancement released today. This menu option (shown below) is available at the site level for users that have access to the configuration menu with the corresponding “Security Role” assigned to their security template.

Note: Site admins can now access their sites and add the below security role to existing security templates for applicable users – “Edit and Customize Reporting Display”

What is Report Customization?

Having access to this menu provides the ability to edit what reports are visible within the “Reports menu” and what order they are displayed in. This enhancement allows site admins to further configure their own site to be more effective/efficient based on the reports available to other users. You can now limit the displayed reports to only the ones utilized at your site.

What does it look like?

The initial view when first accessing this menu will only display the current reports visible within your “Reports menu“.

• Select the “X” located on the right side of each displayed report to remove that report from being accessible/visible within the reports menu.
• To add reports, simply start typing inside the “Report Type (Lookup)” field. Applicable results will filter automatically.
  • For example, type “reports”, “IRS”, “Management”, etc. and all reports will filter accordingly.
  • To add a report to the reports list, click on the report name that appears in the filtered results.

To view all available reports that can be added, click inside the “Report Type (Lookup)” field and then press the down arrow on your keyboard. This will display the full list of available reports allowing you to choose which reports to add to your list. After adding the wanted reports to your site, you can drag and drop each report to sort the order in which they are displayed. The “Drag and Drop” sorting method works just like Custom Questions when changing the order of answers.

A couple items to note with this update:

• The Configuration menu is now in alphabetical order based on name of sub-menus
• “Report Customization” is available only at the site level and not at the Group level