FollowDue to potentially fraudulent activity that was found on tax returns filed with Turbo Tax in Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Revenue has stopped accepting tax returns submitted using Turbo Tax software. Intuit, the company that produces Turbo Tax, had temporarily suspended transmission of taxes in all states but has recently resumed doing so, except in Minnesota. Kevin Thompson, CPA says “in the current environment, anything that looks like fraud will be treated like fraud. In this case, it appears that there is some software glitch that Intuit will need to fix.”
The Department of Revenue says there is not a security breach and that taxpayer data is safe. There is technology in place to safeguard private info submitted by taxpayers. The issue lies with the Turbo Tax software itself. When a user logs into the software it appears as if their tax return has already been filed. Thompson says “one of the greatest breaches of identity theft with the IRS is people filing tax returns early using information (usually fraudulent) for taxpayers other than themselves. These returns always result in refunds and the filer takes the money and runs. Since that practice is so prevalent, it is necessary for the taxing authorities to implement procedures to identify fraudulent returns. Personally, I laud the State of Minnesota for this action and hope that both they and Intuit can get it right.”
The Department is working with Intuit and will be providing updates. Any taxpayer affected can call 1-800-944-8596 for personal assistance.
This is the second time that Minnesota, in particular, has experienced issues with Intuit software. A similar warning was issued in 2012. The Department of Revenue, at that time, issued a warning that the accuracy of returns filed with Turbo Tax may be inaccurate or delay refund checks and suggested that taxpayers use other software programs instead. “The challenge in 2012 was a different one,“ says Thompson. “In that instance, Minnesota just found too many errors with returns processed using Turbo Tax.” Tax compliance is complicated and should not be taken lightly. Most taxpayers want to comply and want to be efficient with their resources. “I think American taxpayers should give a second thought to compliance using over the counter software solutions,” says Thompson.
Turbo Tax has received negative press ever since it made changes to its software in January by removing interview pieces from Schedule C, Schedule D and Schedule E. It announced it would provide updates and reverse those changes.
Don’t experience tax software glitches and inaccuracies. Contact your tax preparer instead.
Contact Kevin Thompson CPA
kevin@kevinthompsoncpa.com or call him @ (310) 450-4625 x102.
