This post will no longer be updated as of 1/6/26. Please refer to the “What We Know” post instead – Available HERE.

With the release of a new application year (2025), some oddities and functionality issues may occur. Below are items that have been identified and reported to our development team. This will be a fluid blog post of known functionality issues within the 2025 Practice Lab. NOTE: You will see various 2024 forms and calculations still used which is normal this time of year as tax changes/updates are ongoing.

• Qualified Tips Not Carried to Line 4a and 4b of the Schedule 1-A (Issue 3553)
• No input for entering a value to carry to Line 4c of Schedule 1-A
• 1040 View, Schedule 1, Lines 14-19a are misaligned

Scenario:  Complete a 2025 return in the Practice Lab and Click Save & Exit without selecting “Mark Return Complete”

The following red error will appear  “Before you can save the submission page, you must save the fee summary checkpoint”

Reason:  This is a residual error from removing the “Fees” page from e-file if there are not fees established

Work Around:  Select “Your office” from the left navigation bar to exit the return.

Note:  Once you get the error on a return, you will continue to get the error.

The 2025 OnDemand Return Preparation Parts I & II webinars for the 2026 Filing Season are now available. A direct link is available below and is also accessible under Section 6 in the Practice Lab.

• Return Preparation I – Click Here
• Return Preparation II – Click Here

The 2025 Enhancement Webinar (2026 Filing Season) will also be OnDemand this year and available mid-December.

Practice Lab 2025 is now live! Please keep in mind that the Practice Lab will be updated twice a week as we receive finalized forms and instructions from the IRS. With that, we ask volunteers to not report calculation issues to support. We also ask to not report forms where the PDF may still display 2024 instead of 2025.

With the Practice Lab 2025 release, you will have access to PL 2025 and PL 2024.

When you log in to your Production Sites, you will see the following TaxSlayer 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020. You do not have the ability to create new returns in 2025, but you can still prepare returns in all of the available prior years. You will be able to electronically file 2024, 2023 and 2022 until the IRS shuts down their MeF system (Date TBD).

States will not be available in Practice Lab 2025 until closer to the filing season in either late December or early January. You can use PL 2024 to have your volunteers train or practice with state returns.

1.  Reach out to your SPEC Relationship Manager with the changed information
2. Your SPEC Relationship Manager will notify the appropriate team for verification that the new EFIN is active in the IRS system
3. TaxSlayer will be notified by our IRS Relationship Manger when the EFIN can be changed

Q:  Can TaxSlayer support request my EFIN to be changed?

A:  No

Q:  Will I still have access to prior year returns and carry forward data if my EFIN changes?

A:  The new EFIN must be changed in TaxSlayer’s system prior to the software order being received

Q:  What happens if my old EFIN is still active with TaxSlayer and my order is placed with my new EFIN?

A:  You will not have access to any prior year returns or prior year carryforward

Q:  How will I know if my old EFIN has not been changed prior to my software being ordered?

A:  You will receive an email notification to setup your admin user account.  If you are create a new user account and do not see any of your prior year users or prior year returns, you need to reach out to your SPEC relationship Manager immediately so this can be resolved.

Multi-Factor Authentication will be required for all TaxSlayer Desktop 2025 users.

Question:  Once a user authenticates on a specific computer, how long before they will have to authenticate again on that specific computer?

Answer:  Since tax return information is stored locally (either on the computer or local network), all users will be required to complete the MFA process every 24 hours.

[UPDATE]  This has been resolved

We are aware that you are receiving API Errors for “ID Server not found” when creating new returns and opening existing returns in 2024, 2023, and 2022.  Our IT and development teams are working this as a critical item.

Click here to view and download the PDF. The link will launch a BrainShark video with instructions on how to view the PDF’s.

Click here to submit a suggestion  

We encourage you to continue to send us suggestions throughout the summer and fall.

Three attachments:

• Attachment 1: Dedicated to application and federal suggestions
• Attachment 2: Dedicated to state suggestions
  • Sorted by state
• Attachment 3: TaxSlayer Suggestion Status
  • Broken into status categories

Reminder: The suggestion box should not be used for calculation errors or software issues. You should reach out to VITA/TCE support.