Professional tax software error codes: where to look them up and how to fix them, product by product

What tax software do professionals use?

Paid preparers mostly work in desktop or hosted programs built for volume, multi-user networks and business returns. This section of Tax Software Desk covers five of them: Drake Tax from Drake Software, ProSeries and Lacerte from Intuit, UltraTax CS from Thomson Reuters, and TaxWise from Wolters Kluwer (CCH). Each has its own error numbering, update method and network setup.

Professional tax software differs from consumer products in three ways that shape the errors you see. It runs on shared network drives, so file permissions and mapped drives cause many failures. It transmits under the firm's Electronic Filing Identification Number (EFIN), so account and password checks can block e-file. And it checks returns against IRS schemas before sending, so validation errors appear inside the program before the IRS ever sees the return.

Tax Software Desk is independent and is not affiliated with Intuit, Drake Software, Thomson Reuters, Wolters Kluwer or any other software company. We summarize what each vendor publishes and link to the original article so you can check it yourself.

Where do pros look up software error codes?

Each vendor keeps a public help site where error articles are titled by the error number or the exact message text. Searching the vendor's own site with the full message, in quotation marks, finds the right article faster than a general web search, because many codes are reused with different meanings across products.

Some programs also carry a lookup inside the software. In Drake Tax, the EF > Search EF Database screen has an F4 Reject Code Lookup tab, and pressing F10 on that screen opens Drake's online reject database. Intuit ships a separate repair program, the ProSeries Tool Hub and the Lacerte Tool Hub, that bundles its most common fixes into buttons.

Product guides in this section

• Drake Software error codes: error 70, authentication failures, update errors, EF messages and DRKPARSE acknowledgments.
• ProSeries error codes: error 54, 604, 1603 and Error Building Cache.
• ProSeries won't open: startup crashes, Repair Updates and a clean reinstall.
• Lacerte error codes: validation failures, transmission failures and startup after an update.
• UltraTax error codes: e-file errors such as FW2-012, database validation errors and startup problems.
• TaxWise error codes: error 631, sign-in codes and MeF validation errors.

Which kind of professional tax software error do you have?

Professional tax software errors fall into three groups, and the group decides who can fix it. A program error comes from the software or Windows. A validation error comes from the software's own pre-transmission check. A reject comes back from the IRS or a state after transmission.

The third group is the only one that is the same in every product. An IRS business rule such as IND-183-01 (missing or invalid spouse Identity Protection PIN) means the same thing in UltraTax CS as in Drake Tax; only the screen where you fix it changes. That is why a reject explanation from one vendor can help a user of another.

Install, update and network setup problems

Most startup and update failures in professional tax software trace back to four causes: user permissions, network drive mapping, blocked downloads and damaged Microsoft components. The vendors describe the same patterns in different words.

• Permissions. Drake says every user needs full read and modify rights to all folders inside the DrakeYY folder; without them you get Error 70: Permission Denied.
• Mapped drives. Drake requires network drives mapped with a letter from A to Z rather than opened through Network Places, and ProSeries workstations fail with Unable to locate Common files folder when the network path in ProWinYY.ini does not match.
• Blocked updates. Drake's update errors and 0-byte downloads are usually a firewall blocking rtppatch.drakesoftware.com. Lacerte notes that updates can exceed 1 GB, so slow connections time out.
• Windows components. Intuit links installer error 1603 to a corrupt Windows user profile or a missing or damaged .NET Framework, and Thomson Reuters ties the UltraTax CS has stopped working message on networks to User Account Control settings.

E-file rejections in professional tax software

A rejected e-file is treated as not filed, according to IRS Publication 1345. The acknowledgment names the business rule that failed, and the program shows it in its acknowledgment or e-file status screen once you retrieve acks.

IRS Publication 1345 gives two timing rules that matter during the last week of a deadline. A return first transmitted on or before the due date and rejected is still timely if it is corrected and resent electronically by the fifth calendar day after the due date. If it cannot be fixed for e-file, a paper return is timely if filed by the later of the due date or 10 calendar days after the rejection notice, with an explanation attached.

Small corrections do not always need new signatures. Publication 1345 allows a rejected return to be corrected and resent without new signatures if total income or AGI changes by no more than $50, and total tax, withholding, refund or amount owed changes by no more than $14. Larger changes need new signatures on the e-file authorization.

For consumer-software walkthroughs of the same process, see how to fix and resubmit a rejected return.

What is the best tax software for tax preparers?

There is no single best tax software for tax preparers; the right one depends on the return types you file, how many people share the data and how you want to be supported. Tax Software Desk does not rank professional products or take payment from vendors. The checklist below lists the questions that separate the options.

Two IRS rules apply whichever program you choose. A firm that reasonably expects to file 11 or more covered returns (individual, trust and estate income tax returns) in a calendar year must e-file them, and every member of that firm is covered; paper exceptions are explained on Form 8948, Preparer Explanation for Not Filing Electronically. To e-file for clients at all, you need an EFIN from the IRS e-file application, which the IRS says can take up to 45 days to approve.

Consumer products are compared separately in our best tax software guide. If you file only your own return, a consumer program is the right category.

Before you call vendor support

Support lines are busiest from late January to April 15, so a few minutes of preparation shortens the call. Gather the details below before contacting the vendor through the support page linked in each product guide.

1. Write down the exact error text and number, or take a screenshot.
2. Note the tax year of the program, the return type (1040, 1065, 1120-S) and whether the program is standalone or networked.
3. Record what you were doing: opening the program, opening a client, updating, printing or transmitting.
4. Check whether the error happens on another workstation or under another Windows user.
5. List anything that changed recently: a Windows update, new antivirus, a moved data folder or a new server.

AI research and review tools now sit alongside these packages rather than replacing them. AI tax software for tax professionals covers what each type does and the citation test worth running before you buy.