Software vendors received the below message from the Illinois Department of Revenue.

“The Illinois Department of Revenue will be implementing a new version of its tax system over the Labor Day weekend. The update is a major version change and will require the BIT and IIT Modernized e-File acknowledgement process to be shut down starting Friday, September 3^rd, 2021 at 4:00pm and will not begin acknowledging the submissions until Tuesday, September 7^th, at 9:00am. You will still be able to submit Illinois business and individual income tax returns during the version update but no acknowledgements will be generated. Please remember to reach out to any clients that file during this period of time and communicate that they will not receive an acknowledgment until September 7^th.”

Below is a recent announcement from the Arizona Department of Revenue. Click Here for the complete statement (also posted below).

“Federal legislation enacted on March 11, 2021 included a provision to exclude up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits from federal income tax. Arizona later conformed to the tax provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, resulting in the same $10,200 of unemployment benefits being excluded from Arizona income tax.

Who is impacted? 
Arizona taxpayers who received unemployment benefits during 2020 and filed their Arizona tax return before the March 11, 2021 enactment of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 must amend their 2020 Arizona tax return to receive a refund of the amount of Arizona income tax they overpaid. Arizona taxpayers who received unemployment benefits during 2020 and filed their Arizona income tax return after March 11, 2021 most likely already received the benefit of the unemployment exclusion and should not file an Arizona amended return.

Regardless of whether they filed before or after March 11, however, Arizona taxpayers who received automatic federal income tax refunds of unemployment benefits from the IRS should amend their 2020 Arizona income tax return.

Will Arizona income tax refunds be issued automatically like the IRS is doing? 
No. To receive an Arizona income tax refund of unemployment benefits, taxpayers will need to file an amended Arizona return (Arizona Form 140X).

When should I amend my 2020 Arizona income tax return?  
You may amend your 2020 Arizona income tax return for a refund of your unemployment benefits only after you amend your 2020 federal income tax return or after the IRS automatically adjusts your 2020 federal income tax return.  In order to receive a refund of your 2020 unemployment benefits you will need to amend your 2020 Arizona income tax return within 4 years of the original due date of the return.

What information do I need to have to file an Arizona amended return? 
Taxpayers will need a federal transcript of their 2020 income taxes after the IRS adjusts their federal income tax return. Request a transcript at: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript.

How do I file an Arizona amended return?  
Arizona taxpayers will need to file an Arizona Form 140X to amend their 2020 Arizona tax return.

Most Arizona residents will be able to complete the Arizona Form 140X by following the simplified instructions at:
https://azdor.gov/sites/default/files/media/FORMS_INDIVIDUAL_2020_140X-UI-Notice.pdf

Part-year residents and nonresidents will need to refer to the full Arizona Form 140X instructions. Additionally, resident taxpayers with changes beyond unemployment, the excise tax credit, and the family tax credit will need to refer to the full Arizona Form 140X instructions at: https://azdor.gov/forms/individual/individual-amended-return-form

Can I e-file Arizona Form 140X?  

The Arizona Form 140X is not currently available for e-file. It must be filed by paper.”

On Monday, August 2nd, customer support will be unavailable from 8:30a-9:45p ET so all employees can attend a company meeting.

7/13/21 – 8:32am ET

All issues have been resolved at this time. If you notice any issues, please contact VITA/TCE Support.

7/13/21 – 8:22am ET

Printing and calcs have been restored when inside of a tax return. There is still an issue with generating PDF from Client List.

7/13/21 – 7:59am ET

We are currently aware and investigating why prints and calcs are not working. We will update this post as we learn more.

In observance of the Fourth of July, TaxSlayer offices will be closed on Monday, July 5th. Normal off-season hours will resume on Tuesday, July 6th at 8:00am ET.

The site will be placed in maintenance on Thursday, July 1st, beginning at 5:00am ET to release the below update(s). Note that deployments may take up to 3 hours to complete. During this time, access to the program may be limited.

MARYLAND

• Physical Address listed in Basic Information, if different than Federal address, not pulling to Form 502 (Issue 6225)

Click here to download a PDF of our Cumulative Release Notes & Program Enhancements.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue released a statement today regarding the treatment of returns impacted by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), specifically around Unemployment Exclusions Adjustments. Read the full statement here.

“The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021. ARPA includes a retroactive provision making the first $10,200 per taxpayer of 2020 unemployment benefits nontaxable for taxpayers with modified federal adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $150,000. For married, filing jointly taxpayers, each spouse may exclude up to $10,200.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue (DOR) will automatically adjust the AGI and recalculate the tax on the returns of individuals who electronically filed their returns with Nebraska prior to April 1, 2021 to the extent that DOR can determine that the unemployment compensation was not excluded from income. There are exceptions noted below.

If this adjustment is made to your return, you will receive a letter from DOR notifying you of the correction. Please review the adjustment made and your filed return when you receive this notification and consider if an amended return is needed. Please attach a copy of your notice of adjustment from the IRS or a copy of the federal amended return if you file a Nebraska amended return.

If any of the following apply, DOR will not automatically adjust your return to exclude any unemployment that should be excluded under ARPA. To exclude this income, you must file an Amended Nebraska Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040XN, to receive the adjustment that you are entitled to:

• Returns filed on paper;
• Returns filed using NebFile;
• Partial-year or nonresident returns;
• A Nebraska amended return was previously filed for tax year 2020;
• If the box on line 29 on your Nebraska return was checked for using federal tax; or
• Your return was filed after March 31, 2021, and did not claim the exclusion for unemployment compensation.

DOR will not automatically adjust credits that may be impacted by the reduction to federal AGI. Taxpayrs who become eligible for any credits or any increase in credit amounts due to this adjustment must file an Amended Nebraska Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040XN, to claim or change a credit.”

The site will be placed in maintenance on Tuesday, June 29th, beginning at 5:00am ET to release the below update(s). Note that deployments may take up to 3 hours to complete. During this time, access to the program may be limited.

UTAH

• Add “E-file: Direct Debit” as a return type

Click here to download a PDF of our Cumulative Release Notes & Program Enhancements.