Citing "multiple issues with the products", the Minnesota Department of Revenue issued a crisp statement today urging tax filers to avoid using Intuit products to prepare or file their state income taxes. The products include TurboTax, Lacerte, Intuit online and ProSeries.
The state warned it using the products could "jeopardize the accuracy of your return or delay your return."
In a conference call, the department said there were multiple issues with the software including assigning political contributions to the wrong party, failing to give an education credit for multiple dependents, incorrectly calculating property tax refunds, and a variety of other calculation errors.
Some of these issues surfaced just in the past several days, according to Terri Steenblock, assistant commission for the department.
"The Department of Revenue is not affiliated with Intuit and we find these errors unacceptable. We expect Intuit to correct these problems immediately. If they fail to do so, the department will stop processing returns filed using Intuit," the department said.
Steenblock said they are meeting with Intuit on a daily basis.
If you have not prepared or filed your return yet, the department suggests you use different software or prepare your taxes in another way.
If you have already used Intuit software to prepare your taxes, but haven't yet filed, wait to file until Intuit announces that problems are fixed.Comment: Too late
In her legally required annual report to Congress, the national taxpayer advocate, Nina E. Olson, estimated that individuals and businesses spend about 6.1 billion hours a year complying with tax-filing requirements. That adds up to the equivalent of more than three million full-time workers, or more than the number of jobs on the entire federal government’s payroll.
And filing is only becoming more complicated as lawmakers haggle over new tax breaks.
Since 2001, Congress has made nearly 5,000 changes to the United States tax code, or more than one a day on average. Nine in 10 taxpayers now pay money, for professional preparers or often-expensive commercial tax software, to figure out how much money they owe the government.
One of the advocate’s suggestions for streamlining the tax code was to repeal the alternative minimum tax, a parallel tax system intended to make sure rich Americans pay a fair amount in taxes, which is increasingly engulfing middle-class taxpayers. Another was to reduce the number of income exclusions, deductions and credits, known collectively as “tax expenditures,” that clutter up the tax code.Comment: I really don't see this situation improving. Remember the call for "fairer and flatter" taxes? I am a Turbo Tax fan. I start in early February and input the data as it arrives (starting with the W-2's). I've found it best not to submit too early. Target date for submission of taxes is the 1st week of March. Before submission, I do a final review with Kathee reviewing all of the documentation and applying a "second set of eyes" to it.
Direct Debit When E-filing
Unfortunately I'm one of the filers who owes money! To both the State and Federal governments.
I had scheduled the direct debits to occur yesterday but nothing happened.
I contacted Turbo Tax and they directed me to the above resource!
How do I check the status of my direct debit transaction?
To verify the date that funds will be withdrawn from your account, or to confirm that funds have been transferred, call one of the following numbers:
- (888) 353-4537
- (800) 829-1040
When will my account be debited?
The IRS debits your account on the day your e-filed return is accepted. However, it can take the bank up to five days to complete the transaction and update your account information.
Please check with your bank or financial institution for the date of debit. We recommend that you wait five days after the e-file return is accepted before inquiring as to when the debit occurred.
Comment:
We used Turbo Tax online. I think I've been using Turbo Tax for 20 years (with the exception that I used another tax product one year). The last two or three years we have used the on-line edition.
Tax preparation is never fun, but Turbo Tax makes it painless.
Romans 13:6-7
For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
