Panic for procrastinators as TurboTax briefly goes offline
TurboTax, one of the country's most
popular tax-filing software programs, caused panic for millions of
procrastinators on Sunday night when it briefly went offline - just one
day before the April 15 filing deadline.
The company quickly fixed the problem and returned the online tax-filing system to service.
But not before TurboTax social media accounts were flooded messages from frustrated filers.
'We're having problems with TurboTax online. We're in process bringing back the experience u expect. Updates 2 follow,' the company wrote at 10.11pm on Sunday.
Eight minutes later the company said: 'Good news - http://TurboTax.com is back online and functional.'
'@turbotax Are you going to confirm or deny that you have problems? I prepaid and can't even download the software! Time to move to H&R,' one twitter user said.
Another user wrote: 'Well now I don't trust you anymore.'
'@TurboTax says all are fixed after site temporarily goes down, causing angst for those flying by seat of pants,' wrote another user.
An apparent glitch in the tax
giant social media software caused its twitter account to send out
several pre-written tweets in a row as users were experiencing problems -
further confusing customers.
Data from the IRS shows more Americans are waiting until the last minute to file their taxes because of political wrangling in Congress has made Americans feel unsure about what will become of their 2012 tax returns.
As of April 5, 96.5million Americans had filed their tax returns - a 3.4percent drop from last year.
For the most egregious procrastinators, a six-month deadline extension is available that will put off the filing deadline until October 15.
An extension can be applied for online under the IRS Free File system or by mailing an IRS Form 4868.
Taxpayers have until midnight 12.00am Tuesday to file or incur penalties of up to 25percent.
The company quickly fixed the problem and returned the online tax-filing system to service.
But not before TurboTax social media accounts were flooded messages from frustrated filers.
'We're having problems with TurboTax online. We're in process bringing back the experience u expect. Updates 2 follow,' the company wrote at 10.11pm on Sunday.
Panic: For eight minutes, TurboTax admitted that its online filing system had gone offline
'@turbotax Are you going to confirm or deny that you have problems? I prepaid and can't even download the software! Time to move to H&R,' one twitter user said.
Another user wrote: 'Well now I don't trust you anymore.'
'@TurboTax says all are fixed after site temporarily goes down, causing angst for those flying by seat of pants,' wrote another user.
This frustrated user threatened to go to the competition
Data from the IRS shows more Americans are waiting until the last minute to file their taxes because of political wrangling in Congress has made Americans feel unsure about what will become of their 2012 tax returns.
As of April 5, 96.5million Americans had filed their tax returns - a 3.4percent drop from last year.
For the most egregious procrastinators, a six-month deadline extension is available that will put off the filing deadline until October 15.
An extension can be applied for online under the IRS Free File system or by mailing an IRS Form 4868.
Taxpayers have until midnight 12.00am Tuesday to file or incur penalties of up to 25percent.
