Update 6:57 pm:   We are showing signs of the site rendering pages and prints as expected.  We are continuing to review the logs to determine what caused the sudden slowdown and error pages.

Update 6:49 PM EST:  The engineers are investigating the sporadic behavior.  Not all volunteers are experiencing the same thing and some are experiencing no issues.  Below is what we are hearing from volunteers:

• Taking over 3 minutes to login
• Timing out when logging out
• Cannot open existing returns
• Cannot start new returns
• Run time errors when moving through the return

We are aware there is something going on with the site.  We have just opened an emergency ticket for the developers and engineers.  We will update the blog momentarily with more news/

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.

We will be putting the site in maintenance mode for 15 minutes on Friday, February 7th at 4:30 am EST.

Due to expected Severe Weather in the Southeast, TaxSlayer offices will be closing at 3:00pm ET. Normal support hours are expected to resume on Friday, February 7th at 8:00am ET.

Update 2:41 pm:  You can now access the Transmission menu.  Our engineers are continuing to investigate.

Scenario:  Click select or the click the Transmission line from the Welcome Page

Result:  Receive the following Error page

Workaround:  If you need to immediately transmit the returns, you can transmit them one at a time from the Submission page.  If this is not your normal routine, we recommend waiting  until we resolve the error.  The returns marked as Complete will be there when the error page has been resolved.

Update 3/5/2020:  We delivered a set of code changes on March 2nd in an effort to minimize the occurrence of this erroneous message.

Issue #4189

Scenario:  The site is randomly receiving the error “Check EFIN, EIN, Address, Phone number in Configuration” when starting a new return.  You have been successfully creating returns.

Solution:  We are trying to reproduce this in house so we can deliver a programmatic solution.

Workaround:  Logging out of the application and back in potentially resolves the issue. Reports from the field indicate that clearing your cache resolves the immediate issue.  If clearing the cache does not work, rebooting the computer clears the error.  We recognize these are workarounds and are looking for a permanent solution.

Update: 2/5 at 4:45pm ET – The IRS questions are now available again in e-file.

We are aware that they are not showing up in your returns.  We have a high priority issue in #4341.

Update 6:06 pm EST:  We are seeing the submission page render as normal.  We will continue to monitor the pages throughout the evening

Update 5:27 PM EST:  We are seeing the submission page being rendered at sites.  It is currently taking about 5 seconds to switch between the efile and submission page.  We are continuing to monitor the pages until we have a final resolution.  If you cannot complete the return, you can tag it so you know to come back and e-file it when you can navigate between the pages.  You can print a copy of the return with your site specific print sets from the Client List.

We are currently rendering an error message when you attempt to click Save on the e-file screen to progress to the submission page.  You will need to click Main Menu to get off the page.  The engineers are currently researching the error.  You can tag the return from the client list so you know to go back and complete e-file section.

Error Page