Since the customer service agent today was zero help with this problem I turn to my colleagues to bring attention to this issue.

Let me preface by saying that I know there is a work around to suppress the penalty, but I should not have to override something that has worked correctly in the past, especially when a workaround will create issues next tax season.

The issue:

When a taxpayer qualified for 100% PA tax forgiveness in the prior tax year they are exempt from underpayment penalty in the current tax year. However in Lacerte 2024 the program is ignoring the entry on screen 8 that clearly states "1=2023 return qualified for 100% tax forgiveness {PA}" and is calculating a penalty for underpayment.

The workaround:

Suppress the underpayment penalty for PA on Screen 8

The future issue:

The workaround is an override, and overrides proforma to next year's tax software. So not only do we have to override the penalty this year we now have to remember to remove the override next year. If we forget to remove the override next year we are facing a bunch of notices from the PA DOR and upset clients when they get a bill from the PA DOR for underpayment penalty in 2026.

Rant:

It's very upsetting that a call to customer support receives no concern. Instead the solution is for me to override the problem. When we are paying the kind of fees that we pay for Lacerte, software issues should be addressed and resolution escalated to push a corrected software. I called today to try and improve a software that I am paying for. I want Lacerte to be the best tax software not only because it costs a lot of money, but because there are tax professionals that may not have recognized this problem.

I hope this helps someone out this tax season besides just being a cathartic rant on my part.