IRS Announces Jan 29 as Kickoff to 2024 Tax Season — 5 Things You Must Know
Written by
Josephine Nesbit
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The Internal Revenue Service announced that the agency will officially begin accepting and processing 2023 tax returns on Monday, January 29, 2024. The IRS expects more than 128.7 million individual tax returns to be filed by the April 15 tax deadline.
However, this doesn’t mean you have to wait until the end of the month to start your taxes.
Most software companies and tax professionals will accept tax returns before the official start date and submit them when IRS systems open. IRS Free File will also be available ahead of opening.
The IRS has implemented new and expanded tools and resources to make filing taxes and getting help easier, including:
- Expanded in-person service at Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs).
- Increased help is available on the toll-free line and expanded the customer call-back feature to reduce wait times.
- Made improvements to the Where’s My Refund? Tool.
- Enhanced paperless processing, enabling taxpayers to submit all correspondence, non-tax forms and responses to notices digitally.
- Enhanced the IRS Individual Online Account that includes chat, the option to schedule and cancel future payments, revise payment options and validate and save bank accounts.
- The new IRS Direct File pilot, a free tax service, will be rolled out in phases and is expected to be widely available in mid-March to eligible taxpayers in participating states.
“As our transformation efforts take hold, taxpayers will continue to see marked improvement in IRS operations in the upcoming filing season,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “IRS employees are working hard to make sure that new funding is used to help taxpayers by making the process of preparing and filing taxes easier.”
For most taxpayers, the deadline to file their tax return, pay taxes owed or file an extension to file is April 15, 2024. For taxpayers living in Maine or Massachusetts, the deadline is April 17, due to the Patriot’s Day and Emancipation Day holidays. The due date for extension filers is Oct. 15.
The IRS encourages taxpayers to prepare early and to plan to file electronically with direct deposit, which is the fastest and easiest way to file, receive a refund and avoid delays in processing. Most refunds are issued in less than 21 days, but the easiest way to check your refund status is by using Where’s My Refund? on IRS.gov or the IRS2Go app. Where’s My Refund? It should show an updated status by Feb. 17 for most early Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) filers and refunds should be available by Feb. 27.
IRS.gov also has online tools and resources to help, including access to your IRS account, the Interactive Tax Assistant, an IRS directory of tax preparers, free tax help by IRS-certified volunteers and help for military members.
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