Tax Filing Season Starting Later This Year

Now that the holidays are behind us, most of us are turning our attention to filing our 2017 tax returns.

IRS spokesman Christopher Miller says this year tax season officially begins a little later than last year.

“You can prepare and file your taxes right now if you like,” noted  IRS spokesman Christopher Miller. “However, the IRS will not begin processing tax returns until January 29th. We need that tie to prepare our systems and computers. So, we are updating our systems now.”

However, Miller said the IRS will not begin processing paper returns until mid-February.

Many tax preparers are already doing taxes for people and now is a good time to get your return together, according to Miller.

But another change this year is when some refunds begin rolling out.

“By law the IRS will have to hold refunds that have both the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit on them until mid-February,” Miller said. “The IRS will process them when they come in, but the refunds will not go out until mid-February. And that’s by law.”

The IRS expects the earliest Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit-related refunds to be available in taxpayer bank accounts or on debit cards starting on Feb. 27th, if the taxpayer chooses direct deposit and there are no other issues with the tax return.

And taxpayers will have a little extra time to get their tax returns in this year.

Miller says you can thank a federal holiday in Washington DC for that.

“The filing deadline this year is Tuesday, April 17th. That’s because the 15th falls on a Sunday and that pushes the deadline to Monday. But Monday is a legal holiday in the District of Columbia. So, by law that pushes the deadline to Tuesday April 17th,” Miller said.

Miller said once completed, it’s always a good idea to keep copies of your prior-year tax returns for at least three years.

And if you have questions or need help filing your tax return you can go to the IRS.gov Web site where most of your tax questions can be answered for free.