The state’s Internet income tax system is temporarily offline for repairs.
People hoping to file their state income taxes on Maine’s I-File Internet site will have to wait at least two more days while experts try to fix the repeatedly overloaded system.
State technicians have worked nights and through the weekend, trying to figure out why the free fill-in-the-blanks tax site keeps crashing.
And people are waiting.
In 2001, an estimated 23,000 Mainers filed their state income taxes using the site. Last year, 27,000 people filed there.
This year, those numbers are expected to surpass 30,000, said Jerome Gerard, the acting executive director of Maine Revenue Services.
“It’s an important part of what we do,” Gerard said. “We’re in hopes that it will be working in two days.”
However, his technicians were unsure Tuesday what went wrong.
The site was scheduled to begin operating Jan. 26 as part of the state office’s Fastfile system, which it calls “the fastest and most accurate way to file your income tax return.”
Fastfile includes a telephone system called Telefile and E-File, used by professional tax preparers. Those sites are working fine, Gerard said, and they receive even more traffic than I-File.
In all, FastFile records about 180,000 returns annually.
The agency’s entire computer systems staff is focused on I-File’s glitch, said Karen Peterson, the director of systems and programs for the Maine Revenue Services.
When it works, it’s easy.
Using the site from a home computer, someone can file a return in about 10 minutes. Agency computers do the math and people can choose to have refunds deposited in savings or checking accounts or sent to their homes.
It’s free and, like the other parts of FastFile, it’s aimed at getting people their refunds in two weeks or less.
“This is our No. 1 priority,” Peterson said. “We’re going to get it up and running as fast as we can.”
A consultant and private technicians have been hired to lend a hand, said Gerard. Workers believe they have eliminated software problems and were turning their attention to the hardware Tuesday, earmarking a server as the possible culprit.
Every time 25 to 50 people are logged in, the system shuts down.
“It’s a performance problem,” Peterson said. A few people are getting through, though.
“They’re filing their returns and getting confirmations,” Peterson said.
But their numbers will have to increase. This weekend is expected to be the first major filing weekend, Gerard said.
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