TaxSlayer

From Paul Dickey

PROBLEM:

Credit #896 – Oregon 529 plan credit
I entered a contribution of $800

TaxSlayer adjusted the amount to $300 and gave full credit instead of $30, which would be the correct value if Table 12, page 115 of the 2020 OR publication 17 had been accessed.

Credit #897  ABLE Account contribution
I entered a contribution of $800

TaxSlayer did NOT adjust the amount to $300 and gave full credit of $800 instead of $30, which would be the correct value if Table 12, page 115 of the 2020 OR publication 17 had been accessed.

TaxSlayer will not be addressing this tax year.

WORKAROUND:

Manually calculate the credits using the percentages found in Table 12 on page 115 of the OR Pub 17. Calculate the correct credit and enter that number in the credit field in the Refundable Credits section of the State return.  The actual number will be not greater than $150 or $300 depending on whether the return is Single or MFJ. (See the example calculation beneath Table 12.)

Please share with your District Leadership and Counselors.

We have two new issues being tracked in the log:

• 5883 impacting Oregon: When a PY or NR return is opened the “rotating calculating icon” appears. Resident OR returns are not affected
• 5901: Unemployment exclusion not being properly applied when MAGI is over 150,000 including UE, but under 150,000 when excluded.

From my current understanding, in addition to the above related to the American Rescue Act:

• Issue 5822: Federal UCE included on Line 13b of Injured Spouse Form
• Repayment of the Premium Tax Credit.  To date the IRS has not provided any guidance to software vendors on how to handle the change.  The IRS has not announced how returns already filed will be handled.
• The IRS has not adjusted their business rules to support direct debits past 4/15/21

Please share with your District Leadership and Counselors.

Oregon has allowed the Unemployment Exclusion.

Here is the statement:

Unemployment benefits exclusion. On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 became law. The Act allows up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits received by a taxpayer in 2020 to be excluded from income if the modified adjusted gross income (AGI) on the taxpayer’s federal return is less than $150,000. Modified AGI refers to AGI before excluding any unemployment benefits. Oregon allows the same exclusion.
• Full-year residents. Your federal exclusion flows through to your Oregon return.
• Part-year residents and nonresidents. Your Oregon exclusion is proportional to your Oregon-source benefits. See our updated instructions under “Unemployment insurance benefits” in “Income.”

With TaxSlayer now updated for unemployment, it is “safe” to file new returns.

Warning still stands to wait for further instructions regarding returns already filed. 

ALSO – continue to hold any returns requiring repayment of Advanced Premium Tax Credit. Instructions from IRS and TSO software are still coming.

Latest update notes that the Federal portion of the return has been updated for the American Rescue Act Unemployment benefit for NEW returns. If not yet filed, the Federal portion will recalculate.

IMPORTANT! If filed already, the IRS has not issued guidance on how to amend. Big note in the TaxSlayer notification. Before you open any return that has already been filed, secure a previously printed copy of the Federal return. The next time you open the return, it will recalculate meaning you will not have the previous numbers to create the amendment.

NOTE that Oregon Department of Revenue website says “Taxpayers who received unemployment benefits in 2020 should wait for further information from the IRS and the Oregon Department of Revenue before filing an amended tax return or filing a new return. “

This author’s opinion is:

• if not yet filed, you can file the Fed and hold the Oregon for later filing or wait for both
• if filed, warn the taxpayers to hold on to the filed printed copy for later amendment, or if you are doing virtual, save them now for use when instructions are provided.

Read the TSO Notice

While TaxSlayer support continues to say that the issue (#5595) will not be fixed until Monday or Wednesday, 3 Oregon districts have reported that the issue is resolved at this time. Oregon Dept. of Revenue may have pressured TaxSlayer to fix the situation sooner.

Check it out and proceed with caution. If not “fixed” in your experience, please report it here.

As posted in their log, TaxSlayer has a fix. That is the good news. The bad news is that it must go through thorough testing so that it doesn’t break something else. This will take a few days.

At this time, one can continue to work on the Federal side of returns. Do not attach a State return until this issue is resolved. Keep a list to update the returns when the system is updated. If the return already has a state attached and it is infinitely calculating, one can click on the Federal in the left bar to enter the Federal return.

Personal note after a career in software development: we want them to do the end to end testing. I am not impressed with their past track record regarding this, but it must be thoroughly tested so that it doesn’t break something worse.

Multiple reports about not being able to open returns nor print them. Began Thursday mid-day. Have been in contact with TaxSlayer support. Currently issue#5595. Appears to be connected with the Oregon State return being attached. Has been escalated.

Can begin new returns sticking to the Federal until resolved. If you wish to open an existing return that has Oregon already included, as the return has the “calculating” spinning on your screen, you can click on Federal in the left bar to get into the Federal section.

Will update this post with new information when available.

Form 8915-E – Phase I – VITA_TCE Blog

Pro Online 2020_ Identifying Returns that need to be opened prior to submitting e-files (February 12) – VITA_TCE Blog

We will be rolling out Practice Lab 2020 on Tuesday, November 10th. Once Practice Lab 2020 is pushed, you will have access to
TaxSlayer 2020 and TaxSlayer 2019 with your Practice Lab logins.

Will all of the 2020 updated tax law changes be available?
No, as the IRS releases final instructions and forms, we will be updating the PL 2020

When will 2020 states be available?
2020 states will not be released until January of 2021. If you are training on states, you will need to use PL 2019.

Full blog post: Practice Lab 2020 — Tentative Schedule