The 2023 tax season is officially over, with the last extensions finalizing on October 15 and this means that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its employees are now officially preparing to get started on the 2024 tax season. As it happens every year, the first date to be able to file taxes online will fall sometime in late January, last year it was the 29th of the month, and there are no indications that this will change, but the announcement will be made at some point before the new year.
Filings made in person will be able to be sent from the first of the month, but returns will not be started until at least February 15, when the child tax credit and others that can only be allocated to one person per household are filed and the system can check that only one member filed for them, so regardless of how early you file, you may have to wait to get your return.
The 2024 IRS tax season changes
One thing that the agency plans to maintain in this new tax season is their commitment to enhancing efficiency, which they have been working on for several years now, improving the system to process tax returns more swiftly and eliminating wait lines for inquiries.
The main way they are improving the tax season this year is by expanding their new free electronic filing service introduced by the IRS last year, Direct File. Since most taxpayers do not do their own taxes by hand and use private companies’ software like TurboTax to be able to get their returns correctly filed, the agency sought to create their own system which would help taxpayers to file in an easier fashion.
If the process is followed to the letter, even tax refunds will be processed quicker, within eight days of filing if they have opted for direct deposit as their payment method. Generally, the IRS processes online filed returns within 21 days, but paper and amended returns take longer as they have to be manually processed by employees. The usual time for these refunds is 4 weeks or more, but if corrections are needed this can take even longer.
This tax season the agency’s efficiency is expected to kick up a notch, with the Direct File program expanding from the 12 original pilot states to 24 already signed up for the 2024 season. You can use Direct File if you lived in one of these states for the entirety of 2024: Alaska, Arizona. California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, Wisconsin or Wyoming. If you have moved partway through the year, you will not be able to use the program, and you will have to use a traditional tax filing company or software.
The types of refunds the program is able to process will also be more complex, allowing more people with more complicated returns to be able to use it. This will allow for faster turnarounds in the returns and will continue to build the program for next tax seasons to be even more efficient, freeing up agency resources to pursue tax fraud and help those with more complicated cases that need further and more specialized assistance.
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If you do not know if you need to file taxes this year, your best bet is to contact a tax specialist that can help you navigate the process, but do bear in mind that if you qualify for any refunds or credits, you must file taxes
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to be able to get them, otherwise you may lose the money you are entitled to. If you have any questions about the process, you can contact the agency directly.
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