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

FEDERAL ITEMS

 

• Issue 4028: Site Production Summary Report not including 1040-X count
• 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

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

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.

We added a “View Form” print icon to the Additional Deductions menu when any of the sub-menus have been completed. You can now only generate the Schedule 1-A when you want rather than sifting through the entire return PDF.

As we move deeper into our end‑of‑season filing preparations, we wanted to share a quick update regarding this week’s All Partner Call.

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.

 

4:15pm ET – All issues have been resolved at this time. Our teams will continue to monitor.

3:30pm ET – Return Summary calcs have been turned back on at this time.

3:12pm ET – Development has determined the cause and corrected the issue. At roughly 3:30pm ET, Return Summary will be turned back on while we continue to monitor.

3:01pm ET – Development rolled back recent e-file changes which now allows e-file to load at this time.

2:50pm ET – We are still investigating at this time. Current experience is the Return Summary is turned off temporarily and the Return Details page of e-file is not loading.

2:35pm ET – We are aware the Return Details page of e-file is not fully loading. Our investigations continue.

2:13pm ET – Additional deployment is complete. We are currently monitoring the application. We also turned off real-time calcs (Return Summary) as we monitor.

2:13pm ET – Another deployment will happen soon with additional updates as we continue to monitor the system. Slowness may still be experienced at this time.

1:32pm ET – Teams are continuing to monitor after the rollback. Navigation may be a little slow at first but should continue to return to normal speeds.

1:17pm ET – Rollback complete. Normal access to the application should be returning.

1:09pm ET – We are about to rollback a previous deployment from this morning.

12:56pm ET – Investigations are still actively underway.

12:40pm ET – VITA users have reported to support they are sporadically experiencing error pages when accessing returns and while navigating to certain pages in the application. We are currently investigating.

Hello TMs and TaxSlayer SMEs:

All partners are invited to join a series of conference calls during the upcoming filing season. TaxSlayer will be participating on these partner and volunteer only calls to provide updates on software, address concerns, and answer questions. Please save the date for all the calls listed below.

Schedule of Calls

• February 26, 2026
• March 12, 2026
• March 26, 2026
• April 9, 2026

Action Item: Please share the information regarding the calls with your partners. Call details will be sent separately for each call and remember the access code is different for each call. Make sure to remind your partners to add this information to their calendar, so they do not miss the call.

Title: TaxSlayer All Partner Calls
Date: Thursday, February 26, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Eastern Time

Send to Attendees

Dial-in Number: 1-202-735-3323 or 1-888-978-8818
Access Code: 8597616#

Looking forward to hearing from all your partners on the call.

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.