We will begin the process of rolling out TaxSlayer Pro Online 2026 the week of November 2nd.  This is a very fluid process, but our goal is to keep your disruption of services to a minimum.

What can you expect once we roll out TaxSlayer Pro Online 2026?

1. The Practice Lab will support 2026 and 2025
2. Your Production site will default to 2026, but you will not be able to “Start A New Return” until a yet to be determined date in January, 2027.
3. You can still prepare 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 returns
4. You can still e-file 2025, 2024, and 2023 returns until the IRS cut-over (December 26, 2026)
5. You will NO longer have access to 2020 returns or reports

Reminder: TaxSlayer 2020 will no longer be available when we roll out our early release of TaxSlayer 2026.  Our tentative date is the first week of November, but we strongly recommend you finish up any outstanding work or reports by October 31st, 2026.

What does this mean? You will no longer have access to 2020 returns or 2020 reports.

 

 

Q:  Do I have to import the documents at the beginning of the return?

A:  No, the documents can be imported at any time during the return preparation process

Q:  Should I carry forward my income docs from the prior year if I am going to scan them or get them from customer portal?

A:  We recommend you going ahead and bring forward the income documents to ensure you have them in case you do not get the documents you are expecting to import.  You can easily delete the documents you carried forward from the appropriate income grid if you do not need them

Q:  Will the import feature be turned on in the Practice Lab?

A:  No, but we will have detailed guides and videos hosted on the Practice Lab

Q:  Can the taxpayer take pictures of their documents and upload them?

A:  Yes, they can do this via their registered customer portal

 

 

Only TaxSlayer verified Federal and State issues with a potentially broad impact listed

FEDERAL ITEMS

 

• Issue 4120: Schedule E loss is allocated to wrong SP on Form 8379
• Issue 3561: Dynamic View of Client List is using incorrect calendar format for filtering the page

 

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STATE ITEMS

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

District of Columbia

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

• Issue 4106: E-file Opt Out form is generating in PDF when IN amended return marked as an e-file return type

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Tennessee

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington WFTC

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Scenario:  Getting Invalid_Scope error when trying to open an existing return or create a new return

We will be pushing a fix out at approximately 8:30 EST

TaxSlayer Pro Online

For post filing season security, all users other than administrator, should be made inactive (or archived if users will not be returning to the site next year). This will ensure no returns are being prepared off-season when the site is closed or prior to the site opening the next filing season.

TaxSlayer Online Closeout Procedures

• Do not deactivate any returns if carryforward tax return data is wanted for the next filing season
• The TaxSlayer server will secure all data and make return carryforward data available for filing season 2027
• From the Preparer Setup in the Configuration Menu, the site administrator or any user with a role that has Add/Edit Preparers permissions has the ability to quickly activate or inactivate a preparer
• Select the volunteer preparers you wish to inactivate while the site is closed
• The “Flip Active Status” will inactivate all users except the user that is logged in at once
• Run various reports (i.e. Federal Returns Not Transmitted, Rejected Returns Report, IRS and State Ack Reports to name a few) to ensure all returns have been filed prior to closing

NOTE: Sites are strongly encouraged to make all preparers except the site administrator (the contact name on the software order) inactive before the site closes.

For additional guidance, follow the procedures outlined on the VITA/TCE Blog or in the Pro Online User Guide for making preparers Active/Inactive.

IRS All Partner Call – February 26, 2026

Question & Answer Summary

Filing California Prior Amended Returns

Volunteer: Can we file California prior amended tax returns? I am filing them but cannot figure out how to check the status to see if they are accepted or rejected.

TaxSlayer: Yes, they can be electronically filed. You can check the status by running the State Amended Return Report or by reviewing Client Status. If you continue to have issues, please reach out to VITA/TCE support.

 

Changes to Social Security / 1099 Inputs

Volunteer: What was the thinking behind the changes to Social Security/1099 entries? Now there are extra steps to add Medicare.

TaxSlayer: There is now a Medicaid premium field based on field suggestions to help itemize Medicare Part B, Part D, etc. This avoids manual calculations allowing the program to total it automatically.

 

Additional Volunteer Comment on Medicare Changes

Volunteer Statement: I like the change so we don’t manually total things, but the implementation feels aggressive. Other areas allow choosing whether to itemize or enter a single number.

 

Checking CA Prior Year Amended Return Status

Volunteer Statement: On the client list, select the Tools drop‑down → Client Status to check amended return info.

 

Displaying Direct Deposit / Debit Information

Volunteer: Could there be a form that shows direct deposit/debit information since paper checks are no longer allowed?

TaxSlayer: The Client Forms List Summary includes this information.

 

Amended Return to Add Direct Deposit Info

Volunteer: Can we amend a return to add direct deposit information for taxpayers who can’t upload documents?

Guidance from SPEC:

Guidance from our No Paper Checks POC for filing an amended return to add direct deposit information:

It is not advisable and may delay the refund further, calling if they cannot authenticate is the best solution.

If there is no response to the notice and there are no other issues with the tax return, the refund will be released as a paper check after six weeks. If the taxpayer would like it sooner, they may call the toll-free line and provide the reason for not being able to receive a DD and an employee can release a paper check.

Note: For security reasons, IRS employees cannot take direct deposit information over the phone or in person.

 

Unusual Box 14 Entries on W‑2

Volunteer: Seeing unusual numbers in Box 14 like deferred compensation. Selecting ‘Other’ triggers Schedule 1-A.

TaxSlayer: Selecting Box 14 → ‘Other’ with no Tax on Overtime Deduction creates a warning but does not add Schedule 1-A automatically.

 

Splitting Refund – Form 8888

Volunteer: How do we load Form 8888?

TaxSlayer: Enable it in Office Setup and it will appear in the e-file flow.

 

FSA/MyFreeTaxes Payment Prompt Issue

Volunteer: Uber driver return forced payment even though it was free.

TaxSlayer: This will not happen when logging into an account from a valid URL for the first time each season. They may have logged in before using the MyFreeTaxes URL. Email support to provide assistance to deactivate the return.

 

Part‑Year New Mexico and Colorado

Volunteer: Can I file both part-year returns?

TaxSlayer: Yes, supported.

 

Premium Overtime vs Overtime

Volunteer: Difference between premium overtime and overtime?

TaxSlayer: Overtime is 1.5× regular rate; premium is the extra 0.5×.

 

MFS Status Question

Volunteer: 13614 asks if lived apart for 6 months; TaxSlayer asks if spouse lived with primary at any time.

TaxSlayer: Question is tied to Social Security benefit calculations when MFS and not to the 13614.

 

Alert IND‑477

Volunteer: What is IND‑477?

TaxSlayer: IRS alert indicating a notice will be sent because refund by check was selected.

 

Tracking Rejects with Multiple Last Names

Volunteer: Hard to track rejects without SSN digits. Can first names be shown?

TaxSlayer: We show what IRS sends. You can filter Client List by ‘Rejected’ to see first names.

 

Left Navigation Bar Pinning

Volunteer: Requested default pinned navigation bar.

TaxSlayer: Suggestions go into backlog and are prioritized. Support can provide tracking updates.

 

5:08pm:  We are seeing normalized performance indicators, however, we are going to leave Real Time Calculations off for Saturday.  Remember you can select the View Return Summary which will take you back to the Summary/Print page where you can see your updated calculations.  Thank you for your continued service to the taxpayers.

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4:07pm:  We are planning to leave Real Time Calculations off through the weekend as we monitor performance

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2:22 pm:  We are bringing the backend Submission services back online.  You will soon see the returns you have submitted sent to the IRS and acknowledged.

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1:26:  This process was completed and you should be experiencing the pages loading faster.  We are going to continue monitoring before we turn on other processes

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You may see a small blip or kick out over the next 15 minutes as move over our processing nodes (sorry for the techno language).

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We are seeing some slow areas, so we are going to hold your e-files to the appropriate agency later in the afternoon.  You can still send them to us, but you will not see returns acknowledged in their customary 8-10 minutes.

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We are in the process of turning off real time calculations.  Remember, you can click View Return Summary at any time to see your updated calculations.