The Alabama Department of Revenue (ADOR) is reminding taxpayers who used TurboTax to file 2015 Alabama state income tax returns and were asked to amend those returns that they are up against a deadline of Oct. 23 to file their amended returns.
Over the summer, TurboTax sent emails, and ADOR sent letters, notifying approximately 36,000 Alabama taxpayers that a variety of programming errors in the TurboTax software could have caused them to file an incorrect Alabama state income tax return. This means taxpayers may be owed additional refunds or, in some cases, taxpayers may have underpaid their tax liability. The possibly affected taxpayers were asked to visit the TurboTax website, log in and file an amended Alabama state income tax return. As of today, the majority of possibly affected taxpayers have not corrected their return. Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, recently notified ADOR that returns amended after Oct. 23 cannot be prepared using the online TurboTax application. Instead, customers filing amended returns after Oct. 23 will have to download a desktop version of TurboTax to process the amended return.
Taxpayers affected by this error should file an amended return as soon as possible to avoid any possible impact on their 2016 returns. TurboTax will reimburse customers for any penalties or interest assessed as a result of this issue. You can find additional information about their Accuracy Guarantee on their website.
Affected TurboTax customers can amend their returns by following the instructions linked here: 2015 Alabama Amend Instructions for the TurboTax Online product. Taxpayers who have questions or need assistance amending their returns should call TurboTax directly at 1-877-216-2138 and tell the TurboTax agent they are calling about 2015 Alabama: Prior Year Refunds/Payments.