10:49 am EST:  As of 10:45 EST, all application services have been restored.  If you are experiencing an error message, please logout and close the instance of your browser and start a new one, or you can clear your cache.  We are continuing to monitor the application.

10:45 am EST:  You should now be able to login with an error, opening an existing return, create new returns, print, etc in 2019.  We are checking the prior years now.

10:30 am EST:  Our engineers are working to resolve the errors.  We are seeing some calculations and prints.

10:20 am EST:  You may also be experiencing a runtime error when trying to login to the site

Server Error in ‘/ProAvalon’ Application.

Runtime Error

Description: An exception occurred while processing your request. Additionally, another exception occurred while executing the custom error page for the first exception. The request has been terminated.

10:15 am EST:  We have opened an emergency ticket with our IT and Dev teams.  We are getting reports of slowness an errors.

2/28/2020

We have made the appropriate updates on our end and all CA transmissions have resumed. Any outstanding CA acks should be returned at this point.

2/27/2020

We are currently working with CA FTB regarding state transmissions stuck in a “sending” status since 2/25/2020. As of today, 2/27/2020, we were made aware CA FTB released an update to their servers on 2/25 that does not support a key exchange algorithm we have been using in conjunction with CA transmissions. We are looking into switching out our current communication library to resolve this issue. We do not currently have an ETA at this time for when CA transmissions will resume, but note that all sites can still transmit CA returns to us (TaxSlayer).

Update 2:00 pm EST:  This has been resolved.  You may now complete the e-file process for the impacted returns.

Update 10:56 am EST:  We believe we have identified the root cause of the error message on the e-file page.  We know if the return has one or two of the following conditions, it will render the error:

• Schedule A for Medical and Dental Expenses,
• F5695 for Nonbusiness Energy

This is most likely related to the e-file blocks we recently removed.  We are  having our development team look at the code.  During the meantime, you will need to tag these returns from the Client List (you will not be able to access them from the submisison page)  so you know to come back and e-file them once this is resolved.

We have had a few reports of volunteers getting an Error Page when clicking Save on the E-file page.   We have opened an issue 4541 and also opened an internal IT ticket to see if we can isolate where the error is coming from.

2/24/2020 – Issue 4520 for the Working Family Credit was resolved with this mornings deployment.

Issue ID 4520

Minnesota has implemented new requirements for the Working Family Credit this year to expand the population of people that qualify for the credit.   In prior years, you must have been eligible to receive the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to receive the Minnesota Working Family Credit. Beginning with tax year 2019, you may be eligible for the credit if you are between the ages of 21 and 64 with no qualifying children or have income that exceeds the limitations of federal EITC.

We are currently working to make this change with the goal of pushing the change live on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

If you feel like you have taxpayers over the weekend that qualify for this credit, you can go ahead and file their federal return, tag the return and file MN as state only once the change has been deployed.

2/25/2020 – This issue was resolved with this mornings deployment.

Scenario:  The volunteer is using Internet Explorer and receives the following error message when clicking “Start New Return”:

2/17/2020 – The HI issue described from 2/14 update below is now resolved.

2/14/2020 — Issue 4454 getting an error when trying to load the Hawaii return.  We currently have this in development

What you can do?

• Edit and calculate the returns that were impacted by Issue 4438
• Print a copy of the state return
• Can file the federal return without the State if the state requires adjustments
• Create a return tag so you know which returns you need to go back and make state adjustments.

What you cannot do?

• Edit the Hawaii return to make adjustments

2/14/2020 – Issue 4438 is now resolved.

The fix for Issue 4438 is set to be deployed tomorrow morning (Friday, the 14th) during our deployment window. This will correct the issue some sites are having with generating a PDF or showing real-time calcs when a Hawaii return has been added to the Federal return.

Update: 2/12/2020 – Issue 4208 is now resolved.

Update: 2/11/2020 – Issue 4208 is actively being worked. The update should be released this week. This blog post will be updated once the update is live.

Issue 4208:

Unable to Claim Refundable Portion of American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) for Students that provide more than half of their own support.

Workaround to Calculate Refundable Portion of American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC):

In Basic Information, check the box indicating the Taxpayer CAN BE claimed as a dependent on another return but IS NOT claimed as a dependent. Complete the Education Credit menu and answer YES to qualifying for the Refundable Portion of AOTC when asked. Continue to save the entry. Return to the Basic Information page and uncheck that Taxpayer CAN BE claimed as a dependent on another tax return. The Refundable Portion of AOTC will remain calculated on the return as long as the Education Credit menu is not accessed again.

Update: 2/12/2020 – Issue 4366 is now resolved.

Update: 2/10/2020 – Issue 4370 has been corrected and is now live. Returns claiming “Tuition and Fees Deduction” can now be electronically filed.

We have two issues reported that we wanted to share on the VITA/TCE Blog. Both are reported as high priority items.

• Issue 4370 – Tuition and Fees Deduction Prompting Erroneous E-file Block: For any returns where the “Tuition and Fees Deduction” is claimed, an e-file block is received requiring that an Educational Institution be added. Educational Institution information is required if claiming the “American Opportunity Credit” or “Lifetime Learning Credit”, but not for the “Tuition and Fees Deduction”. Until Issue 4370 is resolved, returns claiming “Tuition and Fees Deduction” should be held until this is blog post is updated.
• Issue 4366 – Transmission Menu Not Displaying State Return Types: When transmitting returns from the Transmission menu, the “State Type” column may reflect as “No Electronic State” even though a state return type is selected when the e-file was created. As long as an e-file return type is selected in e-file for your state(s) and saved when continuing to Submission page, the state return will be electronically filed as expected.