8915-E Forms have been finalized. How long until TurboTax is updated?

[vulcanis1776]

It appears that late last night the forms were finalized. How long can we expect until they're actually put into the system for turbotax?

https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/formsPublications.html?value=8915-E&criteria=formNumber&submi...

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8915e.pdf

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8915e.pdf

[SweetieJean]

You will report this on a Form 8915-E.  On February 11th, the IRS finalized the Form 8915-E for retirement plan distributions under the CARES act.  It will take some time for TurboTax to program, test, and get approval from the IRS for eFiling this form.  Until then, the form is only available for print on the IRS website.

 You can watch this link for the form availability.  Currently, the form is not listed here but should be added soon.  IRS forms availability table for TurboTax individual (personal) tax products

 Please sign-up here and we will email you once the form is live.

In the mean time, you can make sure you are eligible for the provision here - Coronavirus Relief

[Opus 17]

Turbotax indicates February 24, and that the form will be e-filable.https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-topics/help/why-am-i-getting-getting-a-10-penalty-on-my-1099-r...

However, be aware that updates are sometimes applied in the evening rather than the morning. 

[vulcanis1776]

Is there ANY possible way this form can be elevated to urgent or critical for your developers?
Time is running out between when people can submit their taxes and for when Congress will be passing the next Covid Relief Bill.

If the legislation is passed prior to Americans being able to file their taxes, for a lot of people, the income means testing will be based on 2019 income levels and not 2020. And for a lot of folks, they will need to be waiting for this specific form to be available while filing their taxes, especially since it can reduce tax burden for anyone that took early 401k distributions to survive.

February 24th is running the risk of a lot of people not being able to qualify for the $1400 dollars for COVID relief, especially if congress happens to pass the bill before then. 

Is the 24th date specifically when the IRS will allow the form to be efilable? Or is that the expected ETA for when the form will be available for TurboTax users? 

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

I think Feb 24 is as elevated as it is going to get.  12 days is actually pretty fast for turbotax.

The normal backstory for all of this is that once the IRS releases a final version of a form, it has to be programmed, tested by Turbotax, submitted to the IRS for review, and approved again by the IRS.  The IRS has to know that the XML file Turbotax is submitting conforms to their specifications and that all the calculations are correct.  (Otherwise, the IRS would use expedited handling for Turbotax returns and they would take 6-8 weeks instead of 3 weeks.)

For form 8915-E specifically, the IRS is not allowing the form to be e-filed as an XML file, because their system can't be programmed for it in time.  So the information either has to be coded as a text statement called a "General Dependency" or the form has to be attached as a PDF.  That also takes time to develop, code, test, verify, and submit for approval.  You would not want the IRS to reject your return for lack of a proper dependency statement.

Even after all that, we have not been told whether returns containing form 8915-E will be processed without human review (the usual process) or will be kicked out for human review, due to the inability of the IRS to program their system to accept the form in the usual manner.  So no matter when you submit, it might not be processed in time for a hypothetical future payment to be based on your 2020 return.

[vulcanis1776]

Thank you for this thorough reply and explanation Opus. 

Personally I'll be reaching out locally to see if there are any tax prep specialists not affiliated with HRBlock/TurboTax/Intuit that may be able to file my taxes sooner with e-filing that includes the general dependency statement.

I obviously want covid relief checks to go out to people ASAP to help as many folks as possible as soon as possible, but for my specific selfish needs, and for the needs of many others in my situation, I hope that the availability of this form will be ready prior to when/if congress passes a covid relief bill that includes a stimulus payment.  

[Opus 17]

Just FYI, Intuit's ProSeries indicate the form will be ready on Feb 25 and will not be e-filable.

https://proconnect.intuit.com/proseries/forms-finder/

Maybe you will have better luck with a pro who uses different software.