I am writing to formally document the significant issues we experienced with the Form 4136 e file failure in ProSeries and the impact it had on our firm during a critical filing deadline.

On March 2, we spent more than four hours with customer support attempting to resolve an error that prevented timely e filing of a farm return. This occurred on the final day before the deadline, during peak tax season workload, when every hour matters. The lack of transparency regarding the status of the form, its readiness, and the nature of the underlying issue left us unable to plan or adjust our workflow.
While the issue was ultimately corrected at the last minute, that does not negate the operational cost to preparation firms. Lost production time during tax season cannot be recovered, and the stress placed on both staff and clients was unnecessary and avoidable. When software is not fully ready or known issues are not communicated proactively, firms are left bearing the burden.

We expect more timely communication, clearer status updates on form readiness, and greater transparency when critical forms are not functioning as intended. These improvements are essential for us to maintain efficiency, meet deadlines, and uphold the level of service our clients rely on.

I am requesting acknowledgment of this issue and clarification on what steps will be taken to prevent similar disruptions going forward.