Update 6:11 PM ET

We are working through the backlog of e-files that we received while the IRS MeF system was in the status of non-operational.  We are processing these in First In, First Out order.

It is important to note that we utilize the electronic postmark when we submit the e-files to the IRS.

What does this mean?  It means that we use the date and time that you electronically submit the return to us.

Why is this important?  The MeF system uses the electronic postmark for processing to determine timely filed returns.

Update 4:53 PM ET

The IRS MeF system has concluded testing and is now Operational.  We should have all  of our systems back up and running automatically again within the next 30 minutes.  At that time we will begin sending the backlog of e-files.  Please note that this is going to take hours to process the backlog of e-files we have been holding during the IRS MeF outage.

As all vendors start working through their backlog of returns, there may be additional delays in receiving acks from the IRS due to the load on their system.

Update 3:05 pm ET

The IRS MeF system is still in the status of Non-Operational.  They are diligently working to get their systems operational.  Again, we encourage you to continue to transmit returns to us as normal throughout the day.

This outage is also impacting IRS Direct Pay

Update 1:20 pm ET

Just a reminder that the IRS MeF system is still in the status of Non-Operational.  We strongly recommend that you continue to transmit returns to us as normal throughout the day.  We will transmit the returns once the IRS MeF system has a status of “Operational”.

We anticipate that there will be a significant number of e-files transmitted to the IRS from all software vendors once their site is operational.  They will need time to process through these e-files, as well as, make the state returns available for the states to pick up for processing.

Update 11:00 am ET

The IRS MeF system is still Non-Operational.  This outage is also impacting the following IRS Systems:

• Where’s my Refund
• Transcripts

Original Blog Post

The IRS just issued a notification regarding their MeF system.  They are experiencing an outage and are diligently working to resolve it.

How does this impact you?

This will cause a delay in us having the ability to successfully send e-files to the IRS and will cause a delay in any acknowledgement that we have not received from the IRS.

Once the IRS system is back online, all vendors will be pushing e-files through the system, which may cause a potential backlog in acknowledgements.

Should I continue to send returns?

Yes, we encourage you to send returns throughout the day.  We DO NOT recommend that you hold them until the end of your business day.

Congratulations...this is the day that you have worked hard to get to.

Thank you...for your volunteer service.

Thank you... for the many, dedicated and long hours you put in so you can make a difference in someone’s life.

As we go through the day, we will keep the blog and message center updated if there are any significant delays in acknowledgements.

If you are getting ready to close out your site, make sure you review the close out procedures that was communicated via your SPEC Relationship Manager and posted to the BLOG.

There are also several reports that you can utilize under Management Reports to make sure all of your returns have been electronically filed.  The Pro Web — Detailed Return report gives you the status of all returns on your system.  This allows you to make sure all of your states that were intended to be transmitted, were marked with an e-file type and transmitted.

Support will continue its tax season hours through the 22nd.

Again, Thank you for your service and for making a difference, one tax return a time.

Combat zone tax benefits now available to Armed Forces members who served in the Sinai Peninsula; IRS accepting retroactive tax refund claims back to 2015

IR-2018-95, April 13, 2018

WASHINGTON — U.S. Armed Forces members who served in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt may qualify for combat zone tax benefits retroactive to June 2015, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enacted in December 2017, members of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Coast Guard who performed services in the Sinai Peninsula can now claim combat zone tax benefits. Eligible service members should review Publication 3, Armed Forces’ Tax Guide, available on IRS.gov.

Among other benefits, eligible service members may be able to exclude part or all of their combat pay from their income for federal income tax purposes. Excluding combat pay from a taxpayer’s income can result in lower tax.

How Armed Services members can claim a refund

Service members who previously paid tax on this income may be due a refund. They may file an amended tax return, Form 1040X, if they already filed a tax return for tax years 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Combat pay received on or after Jan. 1, 2018, will be correctly reported on any W-2 forms issued to any service member who serves in the Sinai Peninsula. Service members who served in the Sinai Peninsula in 2015, 2016, or 2017 can provide documentation of their service to their finance officer and ask for a Form W-2c, Corrected Wage and Tax Statement.

However, an eligible service member who is unable to secure a corrected Form W-2c may still claim the combat pay exclusion by attaching to their Form 1040X copies of official documents showing they served or worked in the Sinai Peninsula. These documents should indicate the area, theater or military operation and the approximate entry date. Acceptable documents include military orders, letters of authorization (civilians), hospital discharge papers, discharge from active duty, official letterhead memorandum from a military department or civilian employer, or a request and authorization for temporary duty travel of Department of Defense personnel (civilians and military).

Amended returns can only be filed on paper (electronic filing is not available) and can take up to 16 weeks to process. Within about three weeks after mailing an amended return, taxpayers can track the status online using Where’s My Amended Return?

For more information about requesting a refund based on service in the Sinai Peninsula, see the Form 1040X instructions, available on IRS.gov.

We want to send a “Shout out” to a Tax-Aide site in Torrance, California that has decided to be open one day a month, post filing season, to help taxpayers with any questions, preparing their late TY2017 returns, amended returns, problem returns and prior year returns.

Thank you Terry B. for sharing this with us and the VITA/TCE community.  It takes a lot of commitment to extend their volunteer services.  We will be here to support you.

We’re in the home stretch!

For the week ending 4/08/2018, we were just shy of the 3.0M cumulative mark, but we will pass it for sure next week! We prepared 305,634 returns, with a cumulative total of 2,958,004.

Many of our partners have extended their hours, added additional days, and planned special events to help this valiant effort of touching more lives!

Hats off to everyone!

Update 2 (April 3)

Stay the Course!

With just a little more than two weeks before April 17^th, we are steadily moving towards our 4.0 goal, as reflected in our numbers for the week ending 3/25/2018.  We will stay the course until the job is done!

Kudos to everyone for helping prepare 293,008 returns! Yes, we are a little short of our weekly projection, but compared to last year, this represents a 2.3% increase. As you can see below, we are quickly approaching the 2.5M cumulative mark. Hats off for achieving a 0.1% increase above last year!

Even with the continued weather challenges in some areas, we continue to see increases in our FSA and prior year return preparation numbers, 5.9% and 53.3% respectively.  We’ve also seen a 1.9% increase in our state tax return preparation. Keep it up!

Update 1

Halfway There!

Keep up the good work!

~~~  Original Message ~~~

First, we want to thank each of you for your dedication and commitment to make this a banner year for return production.  SPEC’s goal is not only to reach 4 million returns for Filing Season 2018, but also serve more taxpayers and touch more lives by offering as many free tax preparation options as possible.  We are confident and poised to accomplish great things this filing season with your assistance.

To help track our progress, we have developed weekly projections to determine where we should be in relation to our 4.0 goal.  Each week this message will be updated with our progress and promote SPEC’s theme: SPEC 4.0, Watch us Grow!

For the week ending 3/4/2018, 356,317 returns were projected to be completed.  We reached an actual count of 313,542 and are almost at the 1.5 million mark. Our cumulative return count is 1,468,961.

While the actual count is below the SPEC projection, there is still time to narrow the gap!

If you have any ideas on ways to help this initiative, we would love to hear from you! Some of you may consider extended hours or days.  Every little bit helps!

Thanks for your engagement and all you are doing to provide free tax assistance to the taxpayers in your community!

SPEC Headquarters

The following PDF is an update on your suggestions (not all 850 have responses yet).

• Don’t see your suggestion…don’t worry…suggestions will be added to the list as we pull them.
• Don’t see a response next to your suggestion…we are reviewing each suggestion and will provide a response.

We tweaked the format a little to allow us to sort by Federal and State.

An example of the status column can be found by Tracking ID 269372 (Ctrl+F allows you search in the document)

What’s Trending:

• Add a warning for returns with $0.00 AGI to let the preparer know it will get IRS rejected
• Carryforward the Simplified General Rule Worksheet
• Display Federal AGI
• Show state status on the client list

Click here to view PDF

The link will launch a Brainshark video with instructions on how to view the file.

This is a “shout out” to the Grace Works Ministries VITA in Franklin, TN.  They have decided to open one day a month, post filing season to help low income taxpayers with any amended returns, problem returns, and extensions.  This site is showing an 11.5% increase in production from last year.  Each of their volunteers certified to the Advance level in order to help as many taxpayers as they could.

Thank you Patricia L. for sharing this great news.

SPEC released the following information about Closeout/Backup Procedures;

TaxSlayer Online Closeout Procedures:

1. Do not delete or inactivate any returns if carryforward tax return data is desired for the next filing season

2. The TaxSlayer server will secure all data…..

Click here to download PDF