Practice Lab 2024 is scheduled to be released/available on Tuesday, November 5th. 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 2023 instead of 2024.

With the Practice Lab 2024 release, you will have access to PL 2024 and PL 2023.

When you log in to your Production Sites, you will see the following TaxSlayer 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019. You do not have the ability to create new returns in 2024, but you can still prepare returns in all of the available prior years. You will be able to electronically file 2023, 2022 and 2021 until the IRS shuts down their MeF system tentatively scheduled for November 30th at 11:59pm ET.

States will not be available in Practice Lab 2024 until closer to the filing season in either late December or early January. You can use PL 2023 to have your volunteers train or practice with state returns.

We’re excited to announce an enhancement released into the 2023 and forward TaxSlayer Pro Online application for Federal returns. Details below…

Problem To Solve: [Example Scenario] Preparer completes return as Direct Debit with $400 owed. Quality Reviewer makes an update resulting in a change in amount owed of only $200. Quality Reviewer skips the Bank Account page in e-file without updating the direct debit payment amount. Return is filed and $400 is paid to the IRS instead of $200.

• Existing Functionality: In the above scenario, whether the amount owed increases or decreases, IF the user visits the Bank Account page in e-file, a validation error appears indicating the direct debit payment and amount owed does not match. User does not see this validation when skipping the Bank Account page often resulting in a higher amount being paid to the IRS than what is actually owed.
• ENHANCED Functionality: In the same above scenario, whether the amount owed increases or decreases, when a user clicks “Save & Exit” or “Transmit Return” on the Submission page, the below dialog box will appear if the direct debit amount has not been updated. Clicking “YES” will redirect the user to the Bank Account page to make an update. Clicking “NO” will continue the desired action (Save & Exit or Transmit Return).

Practice Lab 2024 is tentatively scheduled to be released/available the week of November 11th.

DISCLAIMERS:

Please keep in mind that the Practice Lab will be updated twice a week, after release, as we receive finalized forms and instructions from the IRS. With that, we will ask volunteers to not report calculation issues to support.

With the Practice Lab 2024 release, you will have access to PL 2024 and PL 2023.

After Practice Lab 2024 release, when logging into your Production Sites, you will see the following: TaxSlayer 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019. You will not have the ability to create new returns in 2024, but you can still prepare returns in all of the available prior years. You will be able to electronically file 2023, 2022 and 2021 until the IRS shuts down their MeF system (this has not been announced by the IRS yet).

States will not be available in Practice Lab 2024 until closer to the filing season in either late December or early January. You can use PL 2023 to have your volunteers train or practice with state returns.

We’re excited to announce that TaxSlayer Pro Online now supports a “1040 Estimated Payments Calculator” tool. This tool is housed under the Payments & Estimates menu > Vouchers for 20XX Estimated Tax Payments. Below is a series of screenshots highlighting this new tool.

Users will see the current year column auto-populated from data in the return. The next years column is where users can enter data for next year.

After entering all applicable information, the bottom of the 2nd page will display the estimated tax as well as the suggestion quarterly payments to make during the year. Currently, users will need to manually enter this amount in the Vouchers for Estimated Tax Payments menu. We have entered an enhancement to offer an option to auto-fill the calculated quarterly payment into the Vouchers for Estimated Tax Payments menu.

After completing the 1040 Estimated Payments Calculator tool, users have the option to generate a PDF shown below.

With this mornings deployment, the Prior Year Comparison utility on the Summary/Print page has been enhanced to better serve you and the taxpayers you serve! Check out the highlights and screenshots below.

• PYC now expanded to include the current year compared to the prior two years allowing for a three-year comparison
• Expanded line items have been added to the PYC utility to give more itemized insight when comparing year over year
• Preparers can now manually plug in prior year values to compare to the current year return when prior year data is not available
• An option to print the PYC is now available

1/15/2024: All Puerto Rico Practice Exercises have been updated and uploaded to the Practice Lab. At this time, all Practice Exercises have been updated 2023.

1/8/2024: The below practice exercises are now updated to reflect current 2023 calculations. Puerto Rico Practice Exercises are expected to be updated by mid-week next week.

• Practice Exercise 1
• Practice Exercise 2
• Practice Exercise 3
• Practice Exercise 4
• Practice Exercise 5
• Practice Exercise 6
• Practice Exercise 7
• Practice Exercise International
• Practice Exercise Military

1/3/2024: The Practice Lab Practice Exercises will be updated to 2023 by Wednesday, January 10th.

To help set expectations in the field, the practice exercises under Section 6 of the Practice Lab will be updated to 2023 in early January 2024. This article will be updated when 2023 Practice Exercises are live in the Practice Lab. We want to provide extra time for additional updates to be applied to the 2023 software before updating the exercises. This time of year both the IRS and State Departments are continually releasing and finalizing forms, schedules, and instructions to software vendors. As mentioned in a previous blog post, regular updates will be implemented into the software as information is released/provided to software vendors over the next several weeks leading into the upcoming filing season.

At this time, the practice exercises are still based on the 2022 application.

1/2/2024 – Roughly fifteen (15) State Returns are now live! Please note the information posted below when reviewing the initial state application release. The remaining states will be released for preparation over the next couple of weeks as the various approvals are received by state departments.

Note: Initial load times may be slower than normal, but this will subside as additional state returns are created, etc.

It is important to keep in mind when accessing 2023 state returns as they become available, some states may have been delayed in releasing final 2023 forms/instructions. As you prepare 2023 state returns in the Practice Lab, you may still see 2022 calculations and/or PDF forms. Customer Support will not be creating issues for these items until the states are closer to finalization.  As information continues to be released and finalized by the states, the Practice Lab will be updated to reflect the most recent information available.

Note: This is the same process every year and is normal behavior.

The 2023 OnDemand Return Preparation Part I webinar for the 2024 Filing Season is now available. A direct link is available below and is also accessible under Section 6 in the Practice Lab.

• Return Preparation Part I – Click Here

The 2023 Enhancement Webinar (2024 Filing Season) will be presented live the week of December 10th. Please contact your SPEC Relationship Manager for additional information.