We’ve been talking a long time about tax season and how busy it is and about all the tax software that can be used to save time and meet deadlines. Well, it’s here now and can you believe it that April 15th is less than 100 days from now! The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has finally put it in the press that the tax season will be opening from Monday, January 27, 2020, onwards. The IRS will begin accepting electronic and paper tax returns starting that day.
The due date or the final day for filing 2019 federal income tax returns is April 15, 2020, for the majority of the individual taxpayers. This time around there is an expectation by the IRS for more than 150 million tax filing individuals. Now that is a significant number, with a major chunk of these returns being filed before the April due date.
The IRS commissioner Chuck Rettig made a public statement saying: “As we enter the filing season, taxpayers should know that the dedicated workforce of the IRS stands ready to help” and to that he added- “We encourage taxpayers to plan ahead and use the tools and information available on IRS.gov. The IRS and the nation’s tax community are committed to making this another smooth filing season.” Overall the revenue commissioner’s statement had a positive connotation to it, encouraging the taxpayers to use the government’s tools and resources to the best of their benefits. And indeed we should rely on the IRS tools and website as it is the most authentic and verified source.
Its seen that almost every year, taxpayers have n number of questions and doubts regarding early tax filing. There might be confusion because many tax professionals and software companies start to accept tax returns before the actual opening day, (this year-January 27, 2020). Doing this doesn’t actually mean that your tax return would be filed early, this just means that you submitted your documents on an earlier date, but the actual tax filing would take place only after the opening date. These software companies and tax professionals will submit returns only when the IRS system opens. The very same concept applies to the IRS Free File program.
In order to get faster tax refunds, the IRS strongly prompts taxpayers to file their tax returns electronically.
Chuck Rettig said that”The IRS encourages everyone to consider filing electronically and choosing direct deposit,” and “It’s fast, accurate and the best way to get your refund as quickly as possible.”
According to the IRS, the opening date is set as January 27 in order to ensure the readiness and security of the tax processing systems and to render attention to the potential impact of recent changes and volatile yet vital tax legislation on 2019 tax returns.
Tax inclusion is very necessary for any economy to gain progressive growth Yes, there is an extensive set of tools and guides on the IRS website to aid the tax filers and tax preparers and these should be religiously referred to in case of any doubt as the IRS website is the only official and the utmost reliable source for said matters. This is going to be a busy time for CPAs and accountants, but we should not lose cool. Tax preparers should be vigilant and look out for errors in transactions and try their best to not miss out any tax transactions when filing to avoid IRS notices and penalties. We should try to get our documents in order well ahead in time to avoid the last-minute anxieties.
Yes, the tax season does seem intimidating but there is a large time window to get things in order, all that’s required is vigilance and patience on our part.
