When does turbotax/intuit start accepting e-file returns during the 2019 season (2018 taxes). NOT IRS but turbotax itself allow you to put yours into que.

[frostyjeezy]

I got all my forms completed today (1/3/2019) and i know at this point the IRS has not released the date they will start accepting e-files but im wondering when intuit/turbotax will begin accepting these returns like they do each year and start accepting them for que to send into the IRS? When i attempt to transmit my return i get the message "The Intuit Electronic Filing Center is not yet accepting returns for tax year 2018". My first thought was this will correlate with whenever the IRS decides to release the date though more often then not its around the 5th of January or so but with the "government shutdown" who knows.

[retiree]

The IRS hasn't finished their changes.  TTax hasn't finished their changes
Why do you want to send your return in BEFORE everything is finished and working and have it TRAPPED in TTax's server and unavailable to you if you need to make a change.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

Why the rush to let your return sit on a server?  

If you manage to file early because the software allows it, your return is just going to sit on a server waiting until the IRS begins to accept returns.  If you discover that you need to change something, you will not be able to do it.  You will have to wait out the IRS and amend later after they fully process the return.  And amending takes about 4 months.  Amended returns have to be mailed; you can’t “fix” a mistake and e-file the correction.

The IRS has not yet announced when they will begin to accept 2018 returns.  It is unlikely to be sooner than the end of January or even later  Many forms are not finalized, and now we have a government shutdown complicating matters.  

Tax preparation software cannot be finalized and become available to you until the IRS finalizes the forms and then goes through the process of approving the software.  Further, many states do not have their forms ready to use yet.

Employers have until the end of January to issue W-2’s.  You may also need to wait for your various kinds of 1099’s  and/or 1098’s to come from banks, Social Security, schools, and other financial institutions that will issue them in late January/early February.  

Trying to file too early is unwise.  With all of the massive tax law changes, new forms, new software, and now the shutdown, it is better to wait for the “bugs”  and “glitches” to be worked out before you file.  Filing too early because you hope for a quick refund may accomplish just the opposite—your return could end up clogged in a mess that will take weeks or even months to sort out, as many “early” filers have discovered in the past.