TaxSlayer:Round2

TaxSlayerStatus

Wherearewe…

Enhancements

●  Inprepara7onfor2018taxseason,TaxSlayer:−  Fixingmanycalcula7on/awkwardworkaroundissues

−  Changinguserinterfacetoimprovenaviga7on−  Addingtoolstomanagereturns−  Enhancingcustomersupport−  Increasingservercapacitytoimprovestability

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng4

Enhancements

− Overhaulingstates’infrastructure▪ Pullingmoredatafromfederalentries▪ Selec7ngCon7nuewillsavedataoneachpage

▪ Fieldlevelvalida7onsoneachpage

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng5

Enhancements

● SomefederalchangesimplementedincurrentsoMwareandmoreduewithTY2017version

● FederalandstatechangestatusasreportedbyTaxSlayerinTaxSlayerIssuesDropboxfolder

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng6

Enhancements

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng7

● TaxSlayerdoesnothaveresourcestoaddresseveryissue− Taxcalcula7onerrorsaremostcri7cal− Trainingmaterialsmustaddressallothers

● Workcon7nues–donothaveaddi7onalinforma7ononotherrequestedchanges

Enhancements

● Prac7ceLab2017duemid-November

● Produc7onversionatsiteslater

●  StatestypicallyreleasedinDecember–haveaskedforearliervisibility

●  Expectmuchless“soMwareagility”aMerNovember

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng8

TaxSlayer

●  Prac7ceLabisthetrainingplaXormforTaxSlayer−  Donotuseproduc7onsites−  Prac7ceLabissameasproduc7onwhenpreparingareturn

●  EncourageInstructorstobrowsePrac7ceLab(s)tobecomefamiliarwithchanges

●  Prac7ceLab2016availableun7lmid-November2018

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng9

Carryforward

● Normalcarryforwardofdatafromreturnpreparedatsiteforprevioustaxyear

●  ExtendedcarryforwardofdatafromreturnpreparedatanyTax-Aidesitetheprevioustaxyear

● Possiblyop7onfortaxpayertoagreeforcross-VITA/TCEcarryforwardforTY2018

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng10

AccountUpdate

● Firstlogintosite(exceptPrac7ceLab)withagivenusername

● Verifycellphonenumberandemailassociatedwithusername

● Prepara7onforMul7-factorAuthen7ca7onprocess

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng11

AccountUpdate(cont)

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng12

● Sameemailaddressandcellphonenumbercanbeusedwithmul7pleusernames

● Requiresinterven7onbysiteadministratorformul7pleuse

AccountUpdate(cont)

● S7llevolving–suggestwai7ngtocompleteuserset-upsandAccountUpdates(butnotun7lendofJanuary)

● Detailedinstruc7onscoming

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng13

Mul7-FactorAuthen7ca7on(MFA)

● Addslayerofprotec7ontomi7gateriskofiden7tytheM

●  IRSrequirementsforincreasedsecurityoftaxpayerdata

● Usessomethingotherthanwhatyouknowtoauthen7cateyourself

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng14

Mul7-factorAuthen7ca7on

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng15

●  Six-digitauthen7ca7oncodeeitherbytexttosmartphoneorbyemail

●  Authen7ca7onrequired:−  Firstuseofusernameonagivencomputer−  Every1to30days–setbysiteadministrator−  Threefailedloginabempts−  Forgotpasswordrequest−  Computerreimaged−  Changebrowseronsamecomputer

Na7onalTaxTrainingCommibee

NTTC–2017RegionalMee<ng16

VermontIssuesVT4–VT9VT5 LineQ2ontheprintedform[PR-141]showsnoanswer

checked(YesorNo);theformwillberejectedbythestate(oratleasttheRentRebateClaimwillbedenied).

VT6 IcannotfindanyplacetoentertheCU-FJorCU-FSstatusfortaxpayerswhoareinaCivilUnion

VT8 Incorrectmailingaddressinreturnswithonespousedeceased:survivingTPnameappearsinaddressfieldonIN111

VT9 Out-ofStateMUNIinterestdoesn’tgetcarriedfrom1040totheIN-112.

VermontIssuesVT1,VT4,VT7

•  VT1•  VTinputnotsavedun<lyouexitgracefullyattheend•  Errormessagepersists,eventhougherrorwascorrected

•  Fixed(?)inTS-17•  VT4Enter100%as10000?55%as05500?•  EnteraspercentageinTS-17•  VT7Taxexemptinterestdoesn’tgetcarriedtoHI-144–Linef

•  (10/6)Devworkcomplete—TS-17

VermontIssueVT3HS-122•  IfPartA(HomesteadDeclara<on)isfilledin,theques<onre

filingapropertytaxadjustmentatalaterdateisanswerNO,andPartBisleoblank,theresul<ngmessageclaimsthatthereturnwillnotbee-filedduetoerrorsonSec<onB.IfPartAisfilledin,itshouldbee-filedregardlessofwhetherPartBisfilledin.AllprimaryresidencehomeownersarerequiredtofileIN122PartA;onlythosethatqualifyforthePropertyTaxAdjustmentarerequiredtofilePartB.

•  Status:(06/22)Liveinproduc<onforTY2016•  TBD:WhatiffilingasPart-YearinVTandboughtahomethat

willbetheirprimaryresidencenextyear?

VermontIssueVT2IN-155

•  Whenyouitemizededuc<ons,youmustaddbackontostateAGItheamountofstateincometaxclaimed.TheamountofstateandlocalincometaxesfromfederaladjustedgrossincomeforthetaxableyearisrequiredtobeaddedbacktoVermontTaxableIncome.However,theamountislimitedtothatwhichwillreducetotalitemizeddeduc<onsbelowthestandarddeduc<on.TaxSlayerdoesn'tappeartodothisadd-back.

VermontIssueVT2IN-155•  TSresponse:Testedbycrea<ngareturnwithfederal

itemizeddeduc<ons.IN-155isgenera<ngcorrectfiguresandaddingamountbackintoVTAGI.Weneedasamplereturnwheretheprogramisnotdoingthis.

•  Status:Closed.Nodevelopmentac<onrequired.•  TSNotes:(06/29)FromtheArea:Wehavereachedoutto

thepartnerforclarifica<on.Thepartnerisunabletoaccessfilesatthepresent<me.IfTaxSlayerhasstatedthattheissuewastestedandcorrected,thepartnerwillretesttheissueintheupcomingFilingSeason.

IN-155Issue(s)forTY2017?

•  Fessup!Whoreportedthisproblem?•  InTY-16,TSinstruc<onsforline6wereincorrect(lioedfromIN-155forTY-15)

•  ForTY-17,willTScarryforwardprior-yeardataforIN-155?

•  InTY-16,TSincludedIN-155ineveryPDF•  ForTY-17,willtheyincludeitonlywhenrequired(generally,ifTPitemizedon1040)?

TaxSlayerEnhancementStatus

•  TaxSlayerhasessen<allycompletedthechangesplannedforthefederalreturnforTY2017.Insomecases,trainingisrequiredtoaccomplishatask.TheNTTCplanstoupdatetheTaxSlayerTipsdocumenttheypreparedlastyearonhowtoaccomplishspecifictasksinthesooware.

•  TaxSlayerisattheend-pointofsoowaredevelopmentforthetaxseason.Addi<onalenhancementswillbeonholdun<lnextyear.

TaxSlayer...NewIssues

•  Newissuesmustbecri<calcalcula<onerrorsforwhichthereisnoworkaroundpossibletocreateanaccuratereturn.

•  Aworkaroundmaynotbetheidealwaytoaccomplishthetask,butifitexists,thisisnotacri<calissueatthispoint.

WillTY2017BringNewIssues?Waitandsee...

•  WhenthePrac<ceLabforTY2017(PL-17)becomesavailable,dotheWorkbookproblemsASAP

•  WhenVT-17becomesavailable,trydoingavarietyofVTreturns(INonly,HS,RR,etc)basedontheWorkbookproblemsordenovo

•  Reportanyproblemstome,aoertryingtoisolatetheissue

Repor<ngVT-2017Issues•  Reporter:TheDCortheirdesignee

•  Forproduc<onreturns,createareturninthePLthatillustratestheproblem

•  Sendmeadescrip<onoftheproblemwithenoughinforma<ontoreproducetheproblem.Thiscouldinclude•  APDFofthePLreturn•  Screenshot(s)

•  IwillsenditontoTaxSlayerandpossiblypostacommentontheVtTaxAideblog

Resolu<onofIssues

TaxSlayerwins...inOT•  TaxSlayer LLC, of Evans, Georgia, protests the

cancellation of request for proposals (RFP) No. TIRNO-14-R-00028, issued by the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), for electronic tax return preparation and transmission software and support. TaxSlayer argues that the cancellation was improper because the agency failed to reasonably identify errors or defects in the solicitation.

•  We deny the protest. •  From http://www.gao.gov/products/D10343; read the

full decision there (PDF, 10 pages)

Firstround…usabilityfindings•  Allofthepar<cipantsindicatedthattrainingwiththenewsoowarewouldbequiteachallengeandlargetaskduetothevolumeofvolunteers.TaxSlayerOnlineisveryclosetoTaxWiseOnline.Theybothhavetheirprosandcons.However,mostofthetestersdidnotprefertheTaxSlayerversionsofthedesktopandself-preparerplavorms.Overall,mostsaidtheywouldratherstaywithTaxWisebecauseTaxSlayerwasnotsooutstandingthatitwouldbeworththeexpenseandworkloadofchanging.

Secondround…Evalua<onscores

•  TheoverallpointscoresassignedtoTaxSlayer’sandTaxWise’sproposalsduringtheini<alandfinalevalua<onswereasfollows: