(UPDATED: Intuit has temporarily suspended transmission of returns in all states. See this article for more details.)
Minnesota Department of Revenue has stopped accepting tax returns submitted using Intuit’s TurboTax software.
Rumors started flying about potential problems earlier this week and there were whispers that the Gopher State might stop accepting TurboTax returns as a result. Those rumors were confirmed by the Minnesota Department of Revenue which posted the following notice on their website:
Some Minnesota taxpayers have recently found that when they log in to TurboTax to file their tax return, they see that a return has already been filed. Due to this potentially fraudulent activity, we have stopped accepting tax returns submitted using TurboTax.
The Department of Revenue also emphasized that there has not been a security breach. Revenue insists that taxpayer data is not at risk and that there is “sophisticated technology in place to safeguard private taxpayer information.” The problem appears to be with TurboTax: users who log in to the software have discovered that their returns have already been filed.
The Department says that it has been in contact with Intuit and will provide updates. In the meantime, the Department advises that affected taxpayers can call 1-800-944-8596 to get personal assistance, beginning today, Friday, February 6, at 8 a.m. Central time.
It’s the second time in recent memory that Minnesota has noted problems with Intuit software. In 2013, Minnesota’s Department of Revenue issued a similar warning after discovering “multiple issues” with Intuit products affecting 2012 Minnesota tax returns. The 2013 problems included errors with property tax refunds, education expenses and political contributions. The Department of Revenue warned at the time that these issues could “jeopardize the accuracy of your return or delay your refund” and advised taxpayers to file using a software product other than those offered by Intuit (TurboTax, Lacerte, Intuit online, ProSeries).
In 2015, the problem appears to be limited to certain individual products. The Department of Revenue emphasized on its website that “[w]e are still accepting returns filed with Intuit professional preparer products (Lacerte, Intuit Tax Online, and ProSeries).”
It’s been a rough tax season for the tax software giant. In January, TurboTax experienced considerable backlash when it made changes to TurboTax, yanking the interview pieces from Schedule C (business), Schedule D (capital gains), and Schedule E (rental and partnership income). The company eventually announced that it would provide affected users with upgrades and reverse the changes made to the software.
I reached out to TurboTax last night for comment. The company advised that “[w]e are aware of these concerns and are investigating the report of suspicious filings. We expect to have additional information tomorrow.”
TurboTax leads the nation in tax software preparation, with more than 60% of the market, or about 30 million customers.
