2/18/22 – This has been corrected with this mornings deployment.

After yesterday’s deployment (roughly 6am ET), an update was introduced that is causing the NJ Property Tax Credit/Deduction not to calculate for returns that may qualify. This issue may also calculate the property tax credit/deduction for a NJ return that does not qualify. This item has already been corrected and the fix will be pushed live Friday (2/18) morning. If you have any NJ returns at your site not calculating the NJ Property Tax Credit/Deduction and you believe they should qualify (or calculating when it should not be), hold these returns until after the Friday morning deploy. If, after the deployment, the NJ Property Tax Credit/Deduction is not calculating on a potentially impacted return, please contact support with your EFIN and Last 4 of the TP SSN. We apologize for this inconvenience.

New for TY2021, the IRS adjusted the age requirement for a taxpayer with no qualifying child when determining EITC eligibility as it relates to students.  A taxpayer that is considered a “specified student” must be age 24 before they are eligible to receive EITC with no qualifying child.

Within the Personal Information of the application, making the highlighted selection shown below will not allow EITC unless the taxpayer, identified as a specified student, is at least age 24 and meets other EITC qualifications. You should refer to IRS guidance on how to make the appropriate vetting process to make the determination if the selection should be checked or not.

Steps for identifying any returns that may have already been prepared and filed prior to the new tax law being implemented into the application.

• Navigate to Reports
• Select Management Reports
• The following reports include Filing Status, Taxpayer Date of Birth, AGI and EIC
  • Site Production Detail Report – Electronic
  • Site Production Detail Report – Paper

You can utilize the built-in filters to narrow your taxpayer results to those born no later than 1998 (under age 24) and who have AGI less than the EITC threshold for taxpayers with a filing status of Single

There are two different entry points for Form 8915-F within the 2021 TaxSlayer Pro Online software. Depending on what you are trying to report will determine which F8915-F entry point to access.

• If, in 2020, on Form 8915-E the election was made to spread the taxable amount of a distribution over 3 years, use the “8915-F” menu on the Income section (shown below) to report the next 1/3 that is taxable on the 2021 return. Primary reason for making the election to spread the taxable amount over 3 years was due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

• The second access point is a question presented to the preparer after adding Form 1099-R to a return. You will see the question below for Form 8915-F. The primary reason for selecting YES here will be for qualified 2020 disaster distributions made in 2021. Note: Coronavirus-related distributions can’t be made after December 30, 2020. A list of qualified disasters can be found in the Form 8915-F instructions HERE.

1/14/22 – The Phase I rollout consists of adding F8915-F menu to the program and implementation of carryforward from a prior year 8915-E (not visible in Practice Lab). Additional rollouts will include calculating the current year taxability and carrying those values to the 1040.

With this mornings deployment, Form 8915-F is now in the 2021 application. It is its own menu item located under the 1099-R menu. When accessing Form 8915-F, if Form 8915-E was available on the prior year return, the input fields within Form 8915-F will populate automatically.

Update 1/6/2022: The Puerto Rico practice exercises are now updated and available under Section 6 of the Practice Lab.

Update 12/29/2021: Practice Exercises 1-7, International, and Military are now updated using the current 2021 Practice Lab calculations available in the application to date. This time of year both the IRS and State Departments are continually releasing and finalizing forms, schedules, and instructions to software vendors. Regular updates will be implemented into the software as information is released/provided to software vendors. The Puerto Rico practice exercises will be updated by end of week next week.

To help set expectations in the field, the practice exercises under Section 6 of the Practice Lab will be updated to 2021 closer to the end of December. This article will be updated when 2021 Practice Exercises are live in the Practice Lab. We want to provide extra time for additional updates to be applied to the 2021 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, not to mention the many changes impacting 2021 returns from the American Rescue Plan and Consolidated Appropriations Act. Regular updates will be implemented into the software as information is released/provided to software vendors.

At this time, the practice exercises are still based on the 2020 application.

1/3/2022 – Roughly twenty one (21) 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.

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 2021 state returns as they become available, some states may have been delayed (and are still experiencing delays) in releasing final 2021 forms/instructions. As you prepare 2021 state returns in the Practice Lab, you may still see 2020 calculations and/or PDF forms. Customer Service 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.

Phase I of the 1040 View on Summary/Print has been updated to 2021. Development is aware various display issues remain and are actively working them. Updates will be made with future deployments.

We have split the 2021 (2022 Filing Season) Enhancement webinar into three parts. Using the links below, you can now choose to view specific sections of the full enhancement webinar. The full enhancement webinar is still available under Section 6 of the Practice Lab.

• Tax Law Updates – Click Here
• New E-file – Click Here
• Scanned Doc/Customer Portal – Click Here