The Internal Revenue Service announced that it anticipates opening the 2015 tax filing season as scheduled on January 20th 2015.
Keep in mind, even if you want to file on January 20, you might not be ready. Employers have until the end of January to mail out W2s to employees. If you itemize, you may have to wait for the 1098 mortgage statement and don’t forget about your bank interest 1099-INT statements as well.
A considerable number of Americans file their taxes within the first several weeks in order to receive their refunds as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately for millions of Americans, tax season isn’t filled with big checks. This year will be the first year that the IRS starts collecting penalties from those who do not have health insurance, according to the laws under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The only way Americans can avoid paying the fine is if they qualify for one of 30 exemptions, which are mostly related to financial difficulties.
At a press conference in early December IRS commissioner, John Koskinen, warned that the latest Congressional cuts to the IRS budget will likely cause some filing problems this tax season.
Less money means the IRS is operating with fewer employees. And that means that the added workloads on existing staff will slow down return processing and issuing tax refunds.
“Everybody’s return will get processed. But people have gotten very used to being able to file their return and quickly getting a refund,” Koskinen said. “This year we may not have the resources, the people to provide refunds as quickly as we have in the past.”
So get ready to file your return on schedule, but also be prepared to wait a bit longer for your refund.
If you’d like to schedule a tax appointment, contact TACCT.
