Updated at 7:52 a.m., Wednesday, April 18, 2007
No penalty for TurboTax users affected by glitch
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — The Internal Revenue Service said today it would not penalize TurboTax and ProSeries users whose 11th-hour electronic returns were delayed by Intuit Inc.'s overloaded servers.A record number of returns from both individual taxpayers and accountants started causing delays early Tuesday in customers receiving online confirmation that their tax returns were submitted successfully, said Intuit spokesman Harry Pforzheimer.
As the midnight filing deadline approached, the problem got worse. During times of peak demand, Intuit was processing 50 to 60 returns per second, he said.
IRS spokesman Bruce Friedland said filers who encountered delays with Intuit's servers will not be penalized if their returns rolled in late. The reprieve also extends to people who tried to file Tuesday night but could not.
Penalties for late filing start at 5 percent of the unpaid taxes per month, and max out at a total of 25 percent.
"They will not be penalized for filing late," Friedland said. "We will do everything we can to assist taxpayers affected by the situation. If people couldn't e-file last night, we encourage them to file as soon as they can. We encourage people to continue using e-file."
