Transmit on 2/12 or Wait

[Patrick Michael]

Anybody else contemplating waiting until the 13th or 14th to submit their efiles?  Maybe I'm a bit paranoid or just shell shocked by everything already going on with this tax season but I can see the IRS and/or state networks getting over whelmed when all the Turbo Tax, HRB and all the other prepares hit the button on February 12th.

[JoeFreitag]

If it's like most years, you can probably start efiling early in the week.

[Lion EA]

I'm waiting until about the 16th, probably. Except for one client who insists on completing and e-filing her return the 12th !!

[Catherine]

I'm holding off.  Among other reasons, I expect IRS server problems the first day and don't want clients to be in limbo, not knowing if their returns went through un-corrupted.

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

I'm holding off. My clients are not normally in that big of a hurry. If they were, they would do their own or go to a big box shop.

[Pacun]

I love this subject every year. I have yet to see that the IRS computers cannot handle the incoming returns. 

When was the last time that you/everybody had issues on the first day of filing?

[Bart]

"BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE: The problem arose in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the busiest day of the tax year for the IRS." The problem was the IRS computers crashed and were unable to accept returns for 11 hours.  This was Tuesday April 16, 2018.

[Pacun]

1 hour ago, Bart said:

"BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE: The problem arose in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the busiest day of the tax year for the IRS." The problem was the IRS computers crashed and were unable to accept returns for 11 hours.  This was Tuesday April 16, 2018.

Correct, don't wait to the last day.... but feel free to start as soon as the IRS opens up... based on that report.

[Possi]

On 2/6/2021 at 8:29 PM, Pacun said:

I love this subject every year. I have yet to see that the IRS computers cannot handle the incoming returns. 

When was the last time that you/everybody had issues on the first day of filing?

I think it was 3 years ago. Two clients got hung up. One was completely lost. After that, I will never send on opening day.

I will send on the 15th. I have one 2019 that I sent to TW a couple of weeks ago. I thought *maybe* they would take a prior year. When that ACK comes back, I'll feel a little better. 

[JoeFreitag]

I transmitted six 1065s (including my own) yesterday and they were all accepted quickly.

[Catherine]

1 hour ago, JoeFreitag said:

I transmitted six 1065s (including my own) yesterday and they were all accepted quickly.

Business returns have been open for a while, so the pent-up onslaught issue doesn't apply.

As I state before, I'll hold off.  Just a day.  It's not worth my worrying about problems at/with the IRS e-file system; I have easier ways to hurt myself.  

[Sara EA]

We are holding off on the 1065s and 1120s, possibly for a couple of weeks.  These forms seem to get updated all season long, but the big issues usually get corrected earlier than the later updates (where some insignificant entry doesn't carry to where it's supposed to and only affects one in a million entities).  With all the changes to the changes that occurred this year, I doubt the IRS caught everything so we'll give them time.  We probably won't efile individuals and 1041s until Monday or Tuesday, just so the ACKs will come back quickly, which probably won't happen with the onslaught on opening day.

[Yardley CPA]

I've already transmitted a couple less complicated 1040's.  Fingers crossed.