Intuit said its Lacerte and ProSeries professional tax prep products would flag any returns that cannot be filed until mid-February because of the delayed patch for the alternative minimum tax.
The AMT patch was not signed into law until just before the New Year, and the Internal Revenue Service said the late passage delayed the programming of five forms (5695, 8396, 8859, 8863 and 1040A-Schedule 2) related to the AMT. As a result, the IRS will not be able to accept any returns that use those forms until Feb. 11. The IRS will begin processing other tax returns on Jan. 11.
Intuit is building diagnostic tests into its software that will determine which tax returns can and cannot be electronically filed before Feb. 11 and warn the tax preparer. Intuit said the software would process the AMT credits the right way.
"The actual forms can be complex, since the order of the personal credits printed on Form 1040 is different from the actual AMT legislation," said Intuit tax development manager Mike D'Avolio in a statement. "Using Lacerte or ProSeries will help ensure that the AMT credits are applied in the correct sequence, according to the new legislation."
