The tax reporting season starts postponed until February 12

But it also means that some taxpayers may have to wait longer than usual for repayment.

Requesting electronic filing: The IRS said it anticipates that 9 out of 10 taxpayers will receive their refunds within 21 days of placing the order – if they do so electronically, they will have direct deposit of their payments and there will be no problems with their return.

If recipients of earned income tax credits and additional children follow the same procedure, they will likely receive their refunds in the first week of March, the agency said.

“This would be the same experience for [those] taxpayers if the filing season started in late January. “

Unprecedented: The filing season’s start date has occasionally slipped into February in the past, often because Congress changed some tax laws at the end of the previous year.

This happened in December, when Congress made some temporary tax provisions permanent, continued others for up to five years, and also ordered the IRS to distribute aid payments to millions of Americans by Friday.

Pandemic challenges: In the context of all of this, routine IRS operations were hampered for much of last year due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, including a mail order portfolio in the millions that slowed the processing of last year’s tax return and refunds.

The IRS announced on Friday that tax preparation companies that have partnered with the agency in the Free File Alliance can now accept returns. Taxpayers are eligible to use free tax software to file their tax returns if they earn $ 72,000 or less.

“Given the pandemic, this is one of the most important filing seasons in the country,” said IRS commissioner Chuck Rettig. eligible for as soon as possible. “

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