Although the downloaded program becomes available every year sometime mid to late November with the online following sometime in December they are NOT fully operational programs ... they are only beta versions. The final program and the state programs are never fully operational until late January at the earliest.
ANY tax software released by any company prior to about January 15 is only released for marketing and market share. No program is complete and ready to file until the IRS approves their final forms and then individually reviews each program's implementation of the form. And some tax situations aren't able to be filed until February or March, again mostly due to IRS delays.
Now, it would be better if the updates that were easy to do were done in advance. But that may not fit the program workflow. For example, if the MAGI calculation is part of the module or subroutine for form 8606, the programmers may decide not to update any part of the 8606 subroutine until the actual form and instructions for 2020 are released by the IRS and then reprogram the entire module all at once.
Although TurboTax may allow you to e-filed some returns as early as 1/7/21 (IF the forms in your return are ready for filing … see info below) they are NOT actually sent to the IRS. TurboTax stores those early filed returns in a holding “POOL” until the IRS opens for business and “drains the pool” for processing ... only then will you get an e-mail telling you if the return was accepted or rejected by the IRS.
Only the simplest returns can be transmitted to TurboTax early. Some forms will not be finalized until Jan 25 and some later than that.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1908854-forms-availability-table-for-turbotax-federal-products-exc...
Why does TurboTax allow early filing? Because their competitors do - It is a marketing ploy to capture market share.
Filing early with TurboTax before the IRS opens is a really BAD IDEA for many reasons...
1) If you discover something that is wrong on your return, receive a W-2 that is different, receive some other tax document that was not on the return that you filed then there is NOTHING that you can do about it other than wait to see if the IRS accepts or rejects the return after they open. If rejected you can correct and file again, but if accepted then the only remedy is to amend which can take 4 months to process.
2) You must remember to check back after the IRS opens (or check for an e-mail) to confirm that the IRS has accepted or rejected the return. If rejected, then it was never filed at all and must be corrected and re-filed. Every year many taxpayers that file early, forget to check back and only discover months later that they never actually filed because if was rejected by the IRS but they had forgotten about checking back after filing with TurboTax.
3) While the IRS does conduct some pre-opening tests and does accept some returns early (ONLY for TESTING purposes), they will not actually process those until after the official opening date. There is a reason to test and that is to discover any problems with it's systems. A couple of years ago a test went bad and several thousand "test" returns were lost. The IRS was able to recover those but it delayed refunds for some by months.
There is no real advantage to file before the IRS opens but there are several disadvantages to do so.
When will my forms be ready?
Historically, IRS tax forms start becoming available in January, with a few stragglers (most notably Form 1040X) getting finalized in February.
State tax forms can become available for filing any time between December and late February, depending on the state and the tax form.
For specific forms and dates, refer to the Forms Availability Table for your TurboTax product, see the related information below.
Can I Still Work On My Return Before My Forms are Ready?
Yes, according to the following:
Federal Taxes
You can still work on your return and finish most of it. Once your forms become available, we’ll create the forms and include all of your info.
You’ll only be able to e-file or print your return once the forms are available.
While you’re working on your return, we’ll ask if you want to receive email updates when your forms become available.
State Taxes
If your forms aren’t available, you’ll get a message asking you to return once they become available.
While you’re working on your return, you’ll have a chance to let us know you want to receive email updates when your forms become available.
Related Information:
IRS Forms Availability Table for TurboTax Individual (Personal) Tax Products
· State Forms Availability Table for TurboTax Individual (Personal) Tax Products
· IRS Forms Availability Table for TurboTax Business
· State Forms Availability Table for TurboTax Business
· What does "Tax Form Under Construction" mean?
