2/7/2019

Issue 2538 is now resolved. Current functionality where 1099-R’s marked as IRA/SEP/SIMPLE will still be automatically subtracted from the WI return, when applicable. If a 1099-R is from a Pension or Annuity, the qualifying portion will be entered inside of the WI return. There is a new “Retirement Income Exclusion Worksheet” menu to enter the qualifying portion(s) of Pension and/or Annuity income. Text within this menu, as shown below, indicates IRA distributions have already been carried over to assist in avoiding double-entry by the preparer. Also, a state prompt was added to the WI program (shown below) that will indicate to the preparer pension income has been found on the Federal return. This prompt only shows when first creating the WI return and only when pension income is reported on the Federal return.

2/6/2019

Issue 2538 was not included in this morning’s deployment. Once deployed, there will be a new “Retirement Income Exclusion Worksheet” menu as well as a prompt that users will see when first creating a WI return to complete this menu if pension income is found on the Federal return.

2/5/2019

Issue 2538 should be pushed live in the next deployment which should be this week. Possibly tomorrow (Wednesday) at the earliest. Once live, this post will be updated to detail what was included in the update.

2/1/2019

We have opened Issue #2538 to correct a previous WI update where “Code 26” for the WI retirement subtraction was removed as a drop-down selection within the Wisconsin program. Currently, “Code 26” is automatically calculated based on Federal return entries when a 1099-R is present and marked as an IRA/SEP/SIMPLE but 1099-R’s that are from Pensions or Annuities are not being included in the automatic calculation. Once Issue 2538 has been resolved, additional details will be provided in this post as to what was included in the update.

At this time, we would advise holding WI returns with pension/annuity income that would qualify for this subtraction until this post has been updated. We anticipate this being resolved next week. However, any Federal returns can still be transmitted as usual. Impacted WI returns can be transmitted as a “State Only” once resolved.

Michigan Department of Treasury send the below messaging to software vendors today.

“Due to the recent weather closures for state of Michigan offices, the Michigan Department of Treasury is in the process of issuing acknowledgments for e-filed income tax returns. It is anticipated that this process will be caught up by the close of business Friday, February 8.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”

2/6/2019

Arizona Department of Revenue sent the below message late yesterday evening. AZ acknowledgements should begin populating at your sites as they work through their backlog.

“Thank you all for your patience. The issue with BR901 has been resolved. Please resume all activity (sending submissions, calling acknowledgements, etc.). Let us know if you additional questions.”

**Arizona also sent erroneous Reject Code 901’s. If your site had any AZ return rejected for Reject Code 901, AZ has stated these can be resubmitted.

2/5/2019

Software vendors have received the below messaging from the Arizona Department of Revenue.

“Please be advised that Arizona has temporarily suspended receiving submissions from the IRS. We will notify you when we start accepting returns.”

Arizona returns can still be transmitted to TaxSlayer as normal, just be advised there will be a delay in receiving acknowledgements.

2/6/2019

Ohio sent the below messaging to software vendors this morning.

“Ohio is currently in the processing of re-sending out all acknowledgements which were not received.  We are estimating that all acknowledgments will be re-sent out and received over the next several business days.  A follow-up email will be sent when all acknowledgements are showing received in our system.  The problem appears to be an intermittent problem, and we are still researching the issue to ensure this does not happen for future submissions.”

2/4/2019

Ohio sent a message to all software developers that they are aware of an issue that is isolated to acknowledgements only.  All submissions were processed according to the standard Ohio processing and rejection rules.  They are aware of the error and are currently researching the cause and will notify software vendors when there is a resolution.

Indiana would like to inform you of some corrections that many of you are receiving on your submissions. The following Business Rejection Rules have been adjusted within our system to allow many of your rejections to be resubmitted and accepted.

We are putting into production this evening (January 31)  a correction to our business rules S529-009 and S529-010 that will now allow the correct rounding to the nearest whole dollar.

We will in production this evening (January 31)  to our business rule SDEP-001-01. It has been discovered that we adjusted the rule behind the scenes erroneously and were not allowing any SSN’s/ITIN’s that start with 9. This should now be corrected and should function exactly as it did on a 2017 submission last year.

If you have any return in this rejected state, you can now resend them.  You can quickly make this determination by selecting the Rejects button (next to message center) .  This will list all of your returns that are both federal and state rejected.

Update 11:06 AM:  We have turned on current year, 2017 and 2016 e-file for 1040 returns.  We have not turned on Send State Only.

Update:  Current year e-file has been turned on.  Please keep in mind that the IRS system is receiving a significant volume of e-files today, so receiving acknowledgements may take longer than normal.

We are currently waiting to receive acknowledgements from the Commercial returns we transmitted this morning.  Once we receive and process them, we will turn VITA/TCE on

Update 1/23  2:52 PM EST:  We sent and received close to 300 e-files.  Thanks to all who participated.  We will be turning e-file off again until Monday, January 28th

Updated 1/23  1:18 PM EST  The state columns on the Transmission page are not currently populating the correct information.  This will be corrected in a future update

Update 1/23 12:27 PM EST  We have not started picking up and processing acknowledgements yet.

Update 1/23  11:32 AM EST:  You can now send your electronic files for TY2018.  We will be sending them to the IRS.  The states will be made available once the IRS opens on the 28th and the states begin picking up their respective e-files.

Update 1/23:  We have turned this on and are seeing the following when trying to transmit from the Transmission page and from inside the return.

Error Page

We are investigating this.

The IRS is moving into week two of controlled launch.  We are Tentatively planning to open e-file for TY2018 returns for a short period of time on Wednesday, January 23rd from 10 am – 3 pm EST.

During this period, we will send VITA/TCE returns to the IRS and receive acknowledgements.

This date and time is subject to change

WASHINGTON ― Despite the government shutdown, the Internal Revenue Service today confirmed that it will process tax returns beginning January 28, 2019 and provide refunds to taxpayers as scheduled.

“We are committed to ensuring that taxpayers receive their refunds notwithstanding the government shutdown. I appreciate the hard work of the employees and their commitment to the taxpayers during this period,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig.

Congress directed the payment of all tax refunds through a permanent, indefinite appropriation (31 U.S.C. 1324), and the IRS has consistently been of the view that it has authority to pay refunds despite a lapse in annual appropriations. Although in 2011 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed the IRS not to pay refunds during a lapse, OMB has reviewed the relevant law at Treasury’s request and concluded that IRS may pay tax refunds during a lapse.

The IRS will be recalling a significant portion of its workforce, currently furloughed as part of the government shutdown, to work. Additional details for the IRS filing season will be included in an updated FY2019 Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan to be released publicly in the coming days.

“IRS employees have been hard at work over the past year to implement the biggest tax law changes the nation has seen in more than 30 years,” said Rettig.

As in past years, the IRS will begin accepting and processing individual tax returns once the filing season begins. For taxpayers who usually file early in the year and have all of the needed documentation, there is no need to wait to file. They should file when they are ready to submit a complete and accurate tax return.

The filing deadline to submit 2018 tax returns is Monday, April 15, 2019 for most taxpayers. Because of the Patriots’ Day holiday on April 15 in Maine and Massachusetts and the Emancipation Day holiday on April 16 in the District of Columbia, taxpayers who live in Maine or Massachusetts have until April 17, 2019 to file their returns.

Software companies and tax professionals will be accepting and preparing tax returns before Jan. 28 and then will submit the returns when the IRS systems open later this month. The IRS strongly encourages people to file their tax returns electronically to minimize errors and for faster refunds.