Alert: SPEC Partners
Today’s TaxSlayer All Partner Call has been canceled.
The next call will be March 7, 2024, 2:00 PM Eastern Time, Dail-in Number: 1-888-978-8818, Access Code: 6941295
Sorry for any inconvenience.
Trending News that potentially impacts your sites: Cellular Outage
Report: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon experiencing nationwide cellular outage
A cellular outage Thursday morning in the United States is being reported by AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and other network users.
More than 800 service outages of U.S. wireless carriers Verizon and T-Mobile were also reported on the platform.
Random Spanish pages and prints
Scenario: I open a return or print a return and I am presented with random Spanish forms, even though I did not change the return to Spanish.
Workaround: Select the taxpayer drop down, Select Change Language, Select the left blue box ‘Ingles’
Sometimes closing out of the return and opening back up will also render all forms in English (may have to do it a couple of times)
Solution: The resolution is currently going through our testing process. Once the changes have passed all testing scenarios, we will deliver it to production (No ETA yet)
Release Notes: February 19th – F8379, F7206, 1099-R & MD
A product deployment for TaxSlayer Pro Online will occur Monday, February 19th 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.
Form 8379
Allow negative amount for “Other income or loss” (Issue 1918)
MD
Form 502 correction: MD Form 502 Local Tax Rate (line 28) for Anne Arundel (Issue 1922)
Form 7206
Form 7206 is printing blank but not added on any menu (corrected)
1099-R
1099-R Box 2a not auto populating from Box 1 when carryforward is used (Issue 1833)
Sales Tax Worksheet: Detour in flow
There is an unintended detour in the flow of accessing the Sales Tax Worksheet
- Navigate to Deductions >> Itemized Deductions
- Select Taxes you Paid
- Select the “I want to input my state and local sales tax”
- Select “Add sales tax you paid”
- You will be presented with the “State and Local Sales Tax Override” page
- If you really want to override, enter the amount here
- If you are looking for the “Sales Tax Worksheet”, click Continue (Detour 1)
- Select the “I want to input my state and local sales tax” (Detour 2)
- Select the “Add sales tax you paid” (Detour 3)
- You will now be presented with the Sales Tax Deduction worksheet
Currently only the Override amount will display on the Sales Tax Paid summary grid that displays. If you are using the zip code to calculate the sales tax, it carries to the return and PDF correctly, but does not display on the summary grid.
We have entered issues to resolve both items.
2022 E-files: Stuck in Transmitted [update 2/13/2024 10:35 am EST RESOLVED]
Update: The majority of the returns that were stuck in the Transmitted status have been sent to the IRS and acknowledged. If you continue to see your 2022 returns in the status of transmitted after submitting them, please email VITA/TCE support with the EFIN and last 4 digits of the returns.
We currently have a high priority ticket in to resolve the issue where the 2022 returns are getting stuck in the Transmitted state with the reason of mismatch. Approximately 50% of the e-files are making it through with no issues.
Recommendation: Hold your 2022 e-files until we can resolve this. It doesn’t appear that resetting the status back to “in progress” and sending a 2nd or 3rd time is increasing the odds of getting them IRS accepted.
February 8, 2024 All Partner Call Notes
Notes from the February 8th All Partner Call:
- As of Monday the 5th, 105,000 returns have been transmitted
- IRS will begin processing refunds for EITC/CTC beginning February 15th
- Prior year and state only e-filing is available. Turned on February 2nd
- Issue #1758 2022 returns are getting stuck in the transmitted state. Please reach out to support with your EFIN and last 4. We will make a blog post when this is resolved.
- CO indicates they will open for e-file mid-February (around the 12th)
- NM has indicated they will be slow to return acknowledgements over the 1st couple weeks of e-file
- Watermarks on state return forms will be removed as forms approvals are received
- Customer portal dashboard recently released
- FSA Kiosk sites: If you have received your URL, be sure to copy and paste it into your browser instead of clicking the link in the e-mail (e-mail service provider could perceive the URL as a phishing attempt)
Q: We are getting a lot of rejects indicating we need to complete form 8862 for disallowance of EITC/CTC/AOC. The taxpayer is stating they have never been disallowed. Is there any way for the software to detect this?
A: No. The IRS keeps this information on file for several years. You will have to load and complete Form 8862.
Q: It is hard to quality review dividend statements because we have to drill down into the return. We submitted suggestion #271382 to add detailed information, where are you at on this.
A: We have completed the requirements document for this. It is now in the phase of being sized and prioritized by our product team.
Q: It is hard to allow the taxpayer to verify their RTN and ACCT number for direct deposit when the information is masked. Is there a way to not mask this information.
A: This is controlled by the “View full taxpayer SSN” permission in Roles & Permissions.
Q: Why do we have to complete the EIC Due Diligence worksheet, we are not paid preparers? (Updated answer)
A: By default, the program does require this worksheet. The Due diligence form will always load in the Forms Completed tree. If the volunteer clicks on it, they can just click on another form in the tree without going through and answering the questions. Even if they answer the questions, it will not be included in the e-file since you are not paid preparers.
Q: My 2022 Amended return was rejected by the IRS.
A: The IRS made a schema change that impacted prior year returns with a 1099-R with federal withholding. We have a work item Issue #1762 that is in final stages of testing and should be delivered within the next few days. Once delivered you will be able to resend those rejected returns.
Q: We are having an issue with the new Alabama RS getting rejected?
A: Issue #1819 will be deployed on Friday, February 9th. Alabama is also making some changes on their end as well to accommodate the new form.
Q: We love the customer portal and the dashboard. However, our volunteers send the link to everyone even if the don’t need it. Is there a way to cancel an invite?
A: Currently no, but that is a great suggestion.
Q: Why did you get rid of the pop-ups on the state returns for taxable pensions and other things for MO?
A: This is an issue and is being worked on.
Q: Is there a difference in the calculations between the Practice Lab and our production site?
A: No, the Practice Lab is a site inside of the Production System just like your production site.
Q: Other software companies allow you to download and import income documents directly into the program so we don’t have to key in the information. Is this something we will be able to do in the future?
A: No. Due to security protocols, we will not allow third party APIs to access the VITA/TCE environment.
Q: Why is box 2(a) no longer auto populating on the 1099-R when you complete Box 1?
A: We did some research and found that this is an issue if the return utilized prior year data. We have opened a high priority ticket to resolve this Issue #1833.
Q: Will the AZ state rebate deduction be automatically subtracted or will we need to continue to manually enter the subtraction amount?
A: Issue #1810 has passed testing and is waiting to be deployed. It will be a manual entry.
Q: Will we have to continue to enter the 4 digit code for the Ohio School District for SD withholding
A: Yes.
Q: We are noticing that the complete/incomplete in the signature column is not always correct.
A: We have Issue #1690 to resolve this. It has been escalated.
Roles & Permissions: What permission controls the masking of data?
The “View full taxpayer SSN” permission determines whether a user can view the full SSN or view a masked SSN.
By default the majority of the roles assigned by TaxSlayer on behalf of the IRS DO NOT allow the preparer to view the Full SSN
This can be controlled at the site level with custom Roles. If you choose to to allow the preparer to view the unmasked SSN, you should take measures to ensure the full SSN cannot be viewed by anyone other than the preparer(s).
