I’ve always made it very clear that I think trying to prepare your own tax returns is crazy, even when software companies such as Intuit make the idiotic claim that their DIY programs can replace experienced tax preparers.  I was always referring to legitimate tax returns.  It now appears that crooks have been successful at using TurboTax to file phony tax returns.  The bad guys have been so successful that Intuit has had to shut down their e-filing for all State income tax returns.

TurboTax halts state filings amid fraud outbreak  – from USA Today
Intuit Working With State Governments to Solve Emerging Tax Fraud Problem – from the TurboTax blog

Update: Arkansas DFA has just released this press release regarding this issue.  Basically, it acknowledges the issue, but claims that they are not aware of it happening yet in Arkansas.  However, as a precaution, they will be closely examining the 7,500 TurboTax refund requests that have already been processed for 2014.  Considering that the MO of the crooks has been to file fake returns early in the season and thus freeze out the actual taxpayers, I am betting that the DFA will be discovering several fraudulent refund claims in that batch.

Update 2: Snopes.com addresses this story: TurboTaxed 

Update 3: Minnesota Isn’t Taking Any More TurboTax Returns