A production deployment is scheduled for Friday, January 5th at 5:00am ET in preparation for tax season. This deployment should be completed prior to 8:00am ET.

1/4/18 – 12:53pm ET

This has been resolved and the update is currently being pushed live. Impacted returns will begin to load the Summary/Print page and PDF’s will begin to render as well. Also, we were able to implement Phase II of the General Sales Tax worksheet. Schedule A, Line 5 now shows the calculated general sales tax deduction based on the completion of the General Sales Tax Worksheet.

1/4/18 – 11:10am ET

We have received reports of the Summary/Print menu (and PDF rendering) not loading. Further research determined the underlying action is caused by completing the General Sales Tax worksheet within the Itemized Deduction>Taxes You Paid menu. For immediately resolution, delete the General Sales Tax worksheet. After removing, the Refund Generator will display and PDF’s will render.

Note: You can use the override feature within the General Sales Tax menu to manually report the general sales tax amount to carry to the Schedule A, Line 5.

The below items are now live in the Practice Lab and Production Sites.

• 1040 View – Updated to reflect 2017
  • If you open an existing return and 2016 still shows on 1040 View, on your keyboard hold Ctrl and press F5. This will recycle the page and update to 2017
• Form W-7 – Under “Identification Submitted”, updated to ask for the middle name instead of just the middle initial. This is shown when the box is checked for “Applicant previously received a TIN or EIN”
• 1040-X – The “Where is this located” link within “Original Federal Return Information” menu for “Other Credits” removed the reference for 1040-EZ since credits do not apply on Form 1040-EZ
• W-2 – Box 14: The selection “MD MSRS C-MD Pickup Contribution” has been removed as it was a duplicate entry. Now, only “MD Pickup Contribution” shows
• Form 1099-K – Text has been added to the “Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions” information menu to provide guidance on where to report 1099-K income received for rental income

1/4/18

Phase II has been released ahead of schedule. Calculated General Sales Tax amounts based on the roll out of Phase I are carrying to the Schedule A, line 5.

1/3/18

Phase II scheduled release for Friday, January 5th, 2018. This will complete the new process of claiming the General Sales Tax Deduction.

12/27/17

Phase I Released: Now, when accessing the General Sales Tax Worksheet screen, your state will automatically be determined by the zip code provided. You are no longer required to manually select the applicable state from a drop-down menu.

Note: With the new implementation of not requiring the state selection from a drop-down menu, Phase II should be released next week to carry applicable figures to Line 5 of Schedule A.

12/22/17

The issue has been fixed and will be corrected live with the next production deployment. The next deployment is tentatively scheduled for the morning of Wednesday, December 27th.

12/12/17

The state selection drop down within the General Sales Tax Worksheet menu was incorrectly removed as a result of this mornings production deployment. Currently, if you complete the General Sales Tax Worksheet, when attempting to save your entry, the screen will validate because the zip code entered does not match the state selected (this is because you are unable to choose a state).

A current workaround to claim the General Sales Tax Deduction would be to visit IRS.gov using the link provided within the General Sales Tax Deduction menu. Once you have obtained the applicable general sales tax amount, click the “Override” button to manually enter your deduction.

A production update is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, January 3rd at 5:00am ET. The scheduled update should be completed prior to 8:00am ET. Items included in tomorrow’s update are listed below.

• Rejected Clients Menu – A return that was transmitted but received a Federal Validation Error will now be visible within the Rejected Clients menu. This expands upon a quick, easy display of rejected Federal returns. You will see a drop down menu to switch your view from Rejected Returns to Validation Errors
• MFA – The default window for prompting MFA will be increased from 7 days to 15 days
• Practice Lab – New requirement of Practice Lab password being at least 15 characters in length

We are aware of this issue and actively working to resolve.

• Full-Year Coverage – Currently, when completing the Health Insurance menu, if it is indicated the household purchased health insurance through Healthcare.gov/State Marketplace AND had full-year coverage, the 1095-A entry screen is not showing.
• Part-Year Coverage – If it is indicated health insurance is purchased through Healthcare.gov/State Marketplace but DID NOT have full-year coverage for ALL household members, the 1095-A entry screen is provided as expected.

Inside the Income section, directly under “Profit of Loss From a Business“, you will now see a menu for “Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions” shown below. Opening this menu will provide guidance of where to report 1099-K income. If adding 1099-K entries on a return where a Schedule C already exists, you will have the option to either add the 1099-K income to the existing Schedule C or create a new Schedule C.

Note: If a 1099-K is provided for rental income received from services such as AirBnB, this income should be reported on a Schedule E.

Purpose:  The Office Identifier is a number generated by TaxSlayer.  This is a Vendor Control Number required for electronic filing.  The field must be present in the-e-file for acceptance.  The goal is for the IRS to validate the number in the e-file with the number uploaded by the software vendor.

Question:  Where is this located?

Answer:  The field will be displayed on your Office/Firm Setup screen where you enter your Firm Information.

Question:  How do I find the office identifier

Answer:  Login to My Account from the VITA/TCE Springboard with the username and password you established via the User Information email link once received after your order is processed.  Once you are logged in, select Account History on the left navigation bar.

Question:  Is this  number unique to my site?

Answer:  Yes, it is unique to the EFIN.

Question:  Will this number ever change?

Answer: The number will change if the EFIN associated with your site changes