Web Log

• 10-18-2024:
  Work has begin on preparing the updates for next year's (2024) Tax Forms, as in prior years.

• 3-20-2024:
  An updated version of Open Tax Solver (OTS) for the 2023 Tax Year is posted for downloading. This update (21.04) includes major updates to the Ohio State Form lines dues to changes for the 2023 tax year. It also includes several recent interim updates, such as the fix to the Massachusetts State Taxes Line 14 maximum rental deduction for 2023, as well as some other small clean-ups on several forms.

• 2-4-2024:
  The initial preliminary version of OTS for the 2023 tax-year is being posted for release and downloading.

• 1-10-2024:
  Initial source-code updates have been checked into OTS's SVN repository for testing and further updating by our developer community - for several of the programs for which the governments have released final publications of Forms and Instruction Booklets. We are still awaiting several more Forms to be published, and will update the programs when they become available. SVN updates will continue on a regular basis while the updating occurs. Once the updating has reached stable versions, builds will be completed on the supported platforms and the initial production version release of this season's OTS package will be posted for general user downloading.

• 11-6-2023:
  The initial updating has begun for the upcoming 2023 Tax Year version of OTS. This will mark the 21st consecutive year that OTS has provided updated tax programs. We are now awaiting the final versions of the government forms before we can issue the initial updated release. This usually occurs around mid January.

• 3-25-2023:
  Several fixes and updates have been posted for downloading since January. The latest is version 20.04.

• 1-24-2023:
  Preliminarily updated version of OTS for 2022 taxes has been committed to the SVN source-code repository for sharing among developers and early testers. Expecting to post compiled initial version for downloading before the end of this week. Some additional user-contributed forms will be added shortly. Then periodic updates will be released over the next couple weeks, as needed.

• 10-17-2022:
  Work begins on preparing the updates for next year's (2022) Tax Forms, as in prior years.

• 1-29-2022:
  Initial versions of programs for the 2021 tax-year have been posted and released. Expect periodic updates over the next couple weeks.

• 1-26-2022:
  Most all forms have finally been published by the IRS and the state governments -- enabling us to complete the updates. (Though still awaiting California Schedule CA-540.) A preliminarily updated version of several programs has been checked into OTS's SVN source-code repository for sharing among developers and early testers. Some portions are still being updated and tested. Updates will be committed into SVN on a daily basis, or as needed, until the full package is ready for release to users and compiled on all platforms -- expected presently to be posted within about a week from now.

• 1-14-2022:
  Almost ready for this year's release ... but still waiting for the final versions of several forms to be published. In particular, the final versions of the CA, NY, MA, and PA State forms and instructions are expected to be released shortly.

• 11-24-2021:
  Work has begun in preparing the updates for the 2021 Tax Forms, as in prior years.

• 2-5-2021:
  Updates will be posted on a weekly basis, or as needed.

• 1-28-2021:
  The initial beta-release of OTS updated for the 2020 Tax-Year is posted for early testing. It includes updates for the forms that have been released so far by the IRS and the states, which are the main Fed-1040, Business Schedule-C, and the states of VA, NC, OH, NJ, MA, and PA. We are still awaiting release of some IRS Forms, and/or Instructions, required to update the Fed -8606, -1116, -8889 as well as the CA and NY states. We will issue updated packages as the remaining IRS and state forms are published.

• 1-21-2021:
  The initial updates for the 2020 Tax-Year were checked into the OTS SVN source-code repository for early testing. It includes updates for all the forms that have been released so far by the IRS and the states, which are the main Fed-1040, Business Schedule-C, and the states of VA, NC, OH, NJ, and PA. We are still awaiting release of some IRS Forms, and/or Instructions, required to update the Fed -8606, -1116, -8889, as well as the CA, MA, and NY states. In fact, New York's web page says that their forms will not become available until mid-February 2021, due to Covid-19 delays. Fortunately, the IRS has delayed the start of this year's tax-filing season by almost a month. So no one can begin filing this year until February 12th, 2021. Since we have the balance of the other form programs completed and ready, OTS will probably post an initial 2020 download package by the end of the last week in January - for anyone who wants to get started early. Then we will issue updated packages as the remaining IRS and state forms are released.

• 1-14-2021:
  Updating for 2020 is continuing as the finalized Forms and Instructions are finally becoming available. As of today, we are still awaiting release of the 2020 Forms and/or Instructions for some states, such as CA, NY, MA, and PA. It seems that Covid-19 has added some delays. Perhaps the filing dates will also be pushed back.

• 11-30-2020:
  Preliminary updating has begun for the 2020 Tax Year version. This will mark the 18th consecutive year that OTS has provided updated tax programs. As usual, we are awaiting the final versions of the government forms before we can issue the initial updated release. Presently expecting initial release for the 2020 Tax Year version shortly after mid-January 2021.

• 2-29-2020:
  For the longest time, I have received many requests for instructions on how to add new Forms to OTS. So I am glad to finally report that detailed instructions have now been added to the OTS web-page about how anyone can add their own new Forms. You will always find the link toward the bottom of the "Documentation" items on OTS's main web-page, labeled How-to-Add-New-Forms.

  Over time we should be further streamlining and simplifying the process. But for now, these instructions should enable anyone, so inclined, to add their own forms. If anyone wants to start some new ones, and then to share what they have. Then we can all work collectively at completing and polishing them, ... hint, hint.

• 2-23-2020:
  Some users have requested additional forms, such as the Health Savings Accounts (HSA) form 8889, and the Nondeductible IRAs form 8606. They have offered to add them -- if provided some instructions for how to do it. Fortunately it is not very difficult to add new forms to OTS. To satisfy these requests: (1) I added the files for HSA 8889, to serve as an example for how to add new forms, and (2) I am setting up a new web-page with instructions for how to add new forms. You will soon be able to access the latter via OTS's main web-page under Documentation: How to Add New Forms.

• 2-18-2020:
  What could become a major new feature was added to the OTS GUI in the most recent version. It was motivated by feedback received over the past year via our User-Survey. Some newer users complained that they had to continually go back-and-forth between the IRS Instruction Booklets and the OTS GUI while attempting to figure out how to fill-out their line entries. Of course this is exactly how OTS was intended to be used. The instruction booklets are already available, and nicely prepared by our governments. Originally the OTS's authors did not consider re-doing all the tax instructions, and assumed OTS's value was primarily in being a calculator to handle the tedious calculations. However, the proliferation of commercial tax packages that provide copious hand-holding has raised expectations. Humorously, it reminds me of the Back-to-the-Future movie scene where the kids of the future complain about needing to actually touch the old video games!! ... Anyway, we caved and now provide a method to link instruction-text to GUI line-entries. Now detailed instructions can be viewed by simply clicking on the line-labels, or the line-comments, for lines that have been populated with instructions. They are fairly easy populate. Detailed instructions can be attached to lines by simply copy&pasting instruction text from the IRS booklets into the src/formdata/FormName_instructions.dat file for the given Form-Name. These files are merely plain text-files. Each line-label for which instructions are being provided must begin with the line-label in square brackets [], followed by however many lines of instruction text. You can view the f1040_instructions.dat as an early example. The GUI knows to look at the corresponding file, in the same way it knows where to get the PDF form data files.

  Populating the instruction files will be a good way that virtually all volunteers can contribute, since no real programming expertise is needed. Of course the instruction-text does not need to be verbatim pastes from IRS booklets. We can add value by editing it appropriately, or augmenting it. Even I have begun to realize how useful it is. It will be especially helpful for lines requiring additional explanations. I hope our users find it helpful, and will be interested in your feedback about how it works for you.

• 2-17-2020:
  There has been some confusion as to where to send any bug reports. The best thing for non-Sourceforgers is to email me directly. My email is at the bottom of OTS's main webpage, as well as in the Readme.txt file.     aston_roberts@yahoo.com
  For Sourceforge users, the bug-tickets work well, because everyone can see the tracking, and they are archived. Please do NOT post urgent bug requests in the user-Survey, because the Survey is tabulated infrequently.

• 1-31-2020:
  The initial beta version of OTS for this year's taxes is posted. Please provide feedback on any issues. And check back here again soon for the customary early updates. At last check, CA has still not posted all the necessary forms and instructions to their FTB gov website. However, we were able to obtain ostensibly final drafts by email directly from the CA FTB. They assured us that if any further changes occur, they will email us directly, so we can update OTS accordingly. This enabled getting the initial full OTS package posted more quickly.

• 1-28-2020:
  OK, NY and PA published their finalized forms and instructions, so these programs have been updated and the source code has been uploaded to OTS's SVN source-code repository for early Testers. Now just waiting for California to publish their instructions and their Sched540 form. Hopefully by the end of this week. Then we'll update the CA program, and send OTS-2019 to the build-farm to post the complete 2019 download package with executables for each platform type.

• 1-24-2020:
  The finalized version of the Fed-AMT (f6251) Instructions, and the Massachusetts's, forms were posted by the respective governments. The OTS files were updated accordingly, and uploaded to OTS's SVN source-code repository for early Testers. Now just awaiting publication of the full Forms and/or Instructions for NY, CA, and PA.

• 1-16-2020:
  The 2019 updates have caught up with all released forms to date, while we still await some governments to release the finalized versions of their forms. Presently we have preliminary versions of the Federal forms and four States uploaded to OTS's source-code repository for early Testing. We are still awaiting release of the finalized version of the Federal AMT (6251) instructions, as well as State Forms or Instructions for NY, CA, PA, and MA. We expect these to be released within the next week or so, in which case we will post the updated version of OTS within a few days after that. After all forms are finalized and tested, the pre-compiled OTS packages will be posted for download - at this point expected near the end of this month.

• 1-2-2020:
  An early in-progress partially updated version for our developers only, was uploaded to the SVN code repository. It includes all the updates submitted by contributors since the end of last year's tax season. Sincere Thank You to all contributors!! Many more updates will be done in the next couple of weeks, before it can be used for 2019 taxes. As usual, we are still awaiting release of the finalized tax forms and instructions from several governments.

• 12-15-2019:
  Updating for the 2019 Tax-Year has begun. Hoping to have the initial version ready for download by mid-January, 2020. Early Beta-Test versions will be available on OTS's SVN repository by the last week of December or early January - depending on release of the government publications.

• 3-8-2019:
  The current version for 2018 taxes is stable and ready to use. Perhaps the most significant new feature this year is the ability to add and maintain, in your tax input files, custom mark-ups for your PDF output files. The new MarkupPDF command is documented at MarkupPDF Commands, which can be found under the Input Format page. Presently these commands can be added by text-editor. In the future, the OTS GUI may support convenient methods to add and maintain them graphically as well.

• 2-22-2019:
  Initial Release for Tax-Year 2018 is posted for downloading on all platforms. New this year, the old examples_and_templates directory has been renamed to tax_form_files. It still contains templates and example form-files, but the new name will be more intuitive and appropriate in what has evolved in actual usage.

• 1-16-2019:
  Updating to the new forms, for the 2018 tax year, continues. Due to the massive changes this year, as well as delays in receiving the final updated Forms from the IRS due to the Government's Shutdown, we are now expecting the initial OTS updates to be posted around the middle of February.

• 2-7-2018:
  Today's release now includes updated versions of all the States and Forms covered in previous years. Some improvements this year include increased support for filling out the PDF forms. So you may notice some additional informational fields added to the input forms. Although some of these entries may not enter into the tax calculations or affect your taxes, they help create more complete forms by enabling automated fill-in of more check-boxes or other information required by the government's PDF form. If you are just using OTS as a tax calculator, then you do not need to fill in the informational fields. But user feedback shows that many people want to generate more completely filled-out forms.

• 2-5-2018:
  In the midst of everything else going on right now, I found [the powers that be] have completely frozen the beloved CVS project version'ing system in favor of more modern successors. So with a slight learning-curve gap after some minor set up missteps, OTS now has a working SVN repository. The project development page's SVN Code-tab should be considered the active one going forward. With lessons learned from the longevity of this project, the new repository should be better organized than the prior one -- particularly to better deal with the annual restarts unique to this project. (Note for anyone ever interested in getting early / pre-release copies of OTS while still under development and testing for the next version, our SVN repository is always the place to get it.) I am excited to see how SVN accelerates our developer community's productivity!

• 1-31-2018:
  The initial version of OTS for the 2017 Tax Year is posted. This initial version contains the programs and forms for the Federal and four States. This will allow early users and checkers to begin testing. Several more States will be added to the next release, expected soon. There were some delays due to several governments being really late in releasing their forms and instruction booklets. There are many improvements in this year's version, due to your feedback and support!!

• 12-26-2017:
  Work has begun on the updates for the current year's version, for the 2017 Tax Year. We are still awaiting release of the official 2017 tax forms to finalize the updates.

• 2-26-2017:
  Thanks to an generous benefactor, we now have a powerful new set of PDF analysis and composition tools. This will enable finally conquering all PDF forms with a simple organic solution for all viewers. We can now see into all parts of the previously undecodable sections of the forms. It will enable full control of all mark-ups and check-boxes, and will leave the output forms in an edit-able state so that you can adjust any mark-ups in your favorite viewer. Probably won't be able to push this out for this season. But it paves the way for a brighter future in the years ahead!

• 2-24-2017:
  An updated version, 14.03, was posted for download. PDF auto-Fillout capability was added for two more states: Massachusetts (MA) and North Carolina (NC).   This now provides PDF auto-fillout capability for all the forms presently supported by OTS!!     All State programs were now made to report tax-bracket and effective tax-rate for your information. In case of underpayment, OTS now shows you the percentage underpaid. (More than 10% underpayment may cause a penalty to be accessed.) The PDF form fill-out programs now place commas in large dollar amounts, except where disallowed. The GUI had some major improvements to prevent common mistakes. It should now be easier and more intuitive, especially for first time users. Some issues with the NJ+NY PDF auto-fillout were resolved.

  In the US-1040, the line labels for Cap-Gains-A through Cap-Gains-C were changed to CapGains-A/D through CapGains-C/F, to eliminate confusion about where to record D, E, and F type sales. Anyone who has already entered their data in the 14.02 or earlier files can move their data up to 14.03 by editing their file to update those three labels. Or your could just paste your data onto the 14.03 template.

  There were several enhancements to the web documentation in the How to Use OTS section. They provide more information for both: using the GUI, and alternatively for using the Command-Line, due to requests received for both.

• 2-16-2017:
  An updated version of OpenTaxSolver (OTS) has been posted for download (version 14.02).

  In this version, PDF auto-Fillout capability was added for two more states: New York (NY) and New Jersey (NJ). There were some minor cleanups and improvements in form comments. The California auto-fillout now writes zeros in lines that require an entry even-if-zero.

  Otherwise, all tax calculations remained stable and unchanged from the last version.

  The automatic form-fill-out capability for the recently added states was made possible by a new Universal-PDF-File-Modifier tool contributed by the Behemoth-Software company. It is significant because it will now allow OTS to quickly offer automatic form-fill-out for all future forms -- regardless of their content or source. Until now, we had difficulty providing fill-out for all forms. Worse, many pdf forms provided by various states cannot even be opened at all on most computers or viewers! Fortunately, the new Universal tool renders all forms viewable on all platforms, even if the original file could not be displayed on the original platform. Sure, there are still a few minor issues even with this tool on a small number of viewers, but at least it allows fill-out and display on more viewers on all platforms -- and we now have a good path to resolve all those issues over time. This Universal solution is simple and self-contained. Unlike other proposed methods, it has no external dependencies, and seamlessly integrates within the overall package. It will enable us to expand OTS to more forms relatively quickly, with no foreseeable limitations. This is a huge breakthrough for OTS!!

• 1-27-2017:
  Sure enough - NY, NJ, and PA finally released their 2016 forms this week, and the OTS Team quickly completed the updates, re-ran tests on all programs (which could have been affected by the last updates), compiled on all four platforms, and posted the updated package to the Sourceforge server. Go get it !!

• 1-20-2017:
  North Carolina finally released their 2016 forms, and OTS has been updated. Now we are still just waiting for NY, PA, and NJ to release theirs. In the meantime, all the code for the updated version of OTS for 2016 taxes has been uploaded to the OTS Sourceforge CVS repository to support our Beta Testing Team. Anyone interested in experimenting with the near-final version may download and compile it from there. Updates, as they occur, are always posted there right away.

  We are expecting (hoping?) that NY, PA, and NJ will release their forms this upcoming week. And if they do, we will post the full pre-compiled packages on our downloads page by the end of that week.

• 1-8-2017: Everything is now updated for the most recent tax-year (2016), and is undergoing testing -- except for the NY, PA, NJ, and NC State forms -- which we are still waiting to be released from those states. Hopefully they will be released this week or so, and then we will complete all updates within just a few days. Release for beta-testing will then follow immediately, followed by the stable wide release within a week.

  Each year it keeps getting better. This year there are several minor improvements.

  • For forms that support Auto-PDF-Fillout, an optional set of lines has been added to supply your name and address only for the auto-fillout option. You can leave these lines blank. They do not affect any calculations. But if you fill them in, and if you select auto-fillout, it will place your name and address on the forms, so you do not have do it manually. Otherwise, you can always enter your name and address manually on the final version of your forms with your PDF viewer.
  • For the MS-Windows version, we have improved the automatic selection of your PDF viewer for the Auto-PDF-Fillout feature. This was a problem for some users last year.
  • For the Federal 1040:
    • Added a line (L8b) for entering Tax-Exempt Interest. This is only used and needed for Social Security Benefits calculations. It is not used if you are not yet receiving Social Security payments.
    • OTS now does the Social Security Benefits worksheet, for whom this applies. This had been much-requested. It now calculates the Line-20b entry for you. (Your SocSec benefits entry for Line 20 changes. Previously you entered the amount for Line 20b, which was the result from the SocSec Worksheet. Now you just enter amounts for Line 20a, which are the raw amounts from the box 5's of all your SSA-1099 and RRB-1099 forms. )
  • Added PDF Auto-fillout for Virginia State Taxes.
  • Help buttons have been added to the GUI. These provide information about the version of the OTS package, some brief instructions on how to use it, and links back to our web-site for additional help, information, and updates.

• 11-30-2016: Updating OTS for the current 2016 Tax Year is underway. Initial release is expected by the end of January.

• 2-12-2016: We now have a quick overview movie about how to download, install, and use OTS at OTS Introduction Video. It should be helpful for first time users, or anyone wanting to see how it works and what it does - before downloading it.

• 2-5-2016: The initial update for 2015 taxes is now released. Most of the programs and tax forms were very stable, with only minor changes from last year. But a couple of the forms completely changed, for example Ohio, which required major revisions. A much requested new feature was added this year - PDF Auto-Fillout. This option appears, if available, when you go to print your results. Presently it is available for the Federal forms and PA state form. We will be working to extend it to the other states.

  Several auto-fillout methods had been proposed, but many of them required each user to have or install additional software packages. And integrating the work-flow added some tricky steps for the average user. Instead, we chose this particular PDF-fillout method because we can integrate and package it as a single-click turn-key solution. It should work "out-of-the-box", without additional hassles. It seems to work OK with several of the popular PDF-Viewers, such as Acroread, Evince, and Atril viewers, as well as LibreOffice, Safari and Google-Chrome browsers. You can further edit your forms in your favorite viewer. Hopefully this feature will help at least some users. If not, then you are back to trying one of the alternate solutions, or entering your numbers by hand like before.

  In the near future, we would also like to add support for ChromeOS on ChromeBooks, based on the number of requests we are receiving.

• 1-29-2015: The former FreeCode.com website we used for issuing announcements of new releases is now defunct. Therefore, we now have a new mailing list you can join for OTS News. See the link at the bottom of the OTS main page, or here Subscribe to New OTS Releases & Updates. You can remove yourself from the list at anytime by sending an email from your email account to OTS.notices@gmail.com with the words "Remove me." as the first words in the subject line.

• 1-27-2015: Some of the government tax forms were released later than expected, which caused us to push back initial release of this year's updates to this week. The updated release for 2014 taxes is now ready for downloading!!

• 12-4-2014: The updating of OTS for the 2014 Tax Year is now underway. Initial release is expected by early January 2015. However, we are still awaiting release of the forms and instruction booklets from the government, which are necessary for updating our programs. Some of supplemental forms were released last week, and we expect the main forms to be released shortly.

• 1-25-2014: The American tax system is virtually infinitely complex. Yet our OTS team does not have infinite resources, nor enough time to codify and maintain implementations for the entire set of tax publications. Rather, our goal is to implement as much of the major sections that benefit the most people - as much as we have time to do, and that we can reliably maintain over the long run.

  Like most things, the tax rules are such that implementing maybe 20% of the key parts is all that about 80% of the populace ever needs or uses. Going after the next 10% would multiply our effort, while only benefiting a small number of users, ... and so on - with diminishing returns.

  This is a major difference between our voluntary effort and the commercial tax preparation packages. They need large full-time developer teams to implement maybe 70% of the tax rules, to satisfy maybe 95% of the populace.

  We face a continuing balancing act. On the one hand, there is always the temptation to continue implementing more sections for the small number of users to whom they might apply. On the other hand, if we over-extend by covering too much, then Quality is at risk. This would not be as much of an issue if the tax rules did not change so much each year. Effectively, unlike most other code projects, we are always developing against a moving target. Each year, changes must be made to update the forms, and these need to be re-checked and re-tested. If we divided our volunteer developers over too many forms, the chances for errors would rise.

  Sometimes we receive requests to add additional sections that would apply to only a very small number of total users, and would make the overall forms more complicated for all the rest of us. So we need to make difficult decisions to balance the overall ease and usefulness for everyone. ... Sorry ...

  At the start of this project I did not know how much help we would get. I am pleasantly surprised that we have been getting more than I had originally expected. It has allowed us to cover more forms with greater Quality and Reliability. If the user/developer base continues to expand further in the future, we could implement even more.

  So we are providing something that helps a lot of people, with minimal effort, which makes it maintainable over the long run. We are not aiming to produce something that satisfies everyone - at least not out of the box. However, one advantage is that if a branch of the tax rules are not implemented that you need, you can just add that piece for yourself without needing to implement the whole thing from scratch. The commercial tax packages must be more comprehensive, considering they are not extendable by end-users.

• 1-24-2014: The initial updated version of OTS for the 2013 Tax Year has been released and is now available for downloading. As in prior years, this version, 11.0, contains programs for US 1040 with Schedules A, B, C, D, and with the 8829 and 8849 forms. It also contains updated State versions for California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts. The version number indicates this is the 11th straight year that OTS has provided updated tax programs.

• 1-16-2014: The updating continues and is now in full stride. Many government forms were released much later than expected, which will delay our initial release. The US 1040 instructions were only released last week (Jan 8)! We expect full coverage of all forms covered in prior years.

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