Let Tax Season 2016 Begin!

With the start of the new year comes the start of tax season! Are you ready for tax season 2016?

The IRS announced that the individual tax return fling season will begin tomorrow, Tuesday, January 19th and last a little longer than usual this year. While most tax seasons end on April 15th, this tax season 2106 will end on April 18th. This is due to the observance of Emancipation Day on Friday, April 15th. They expect over 150 million returns to be filed this tax season and to give refunds to more than seventy percent of those filers. Last year they gave out 109 million refunds, with the average refund being $2,797.

The IRS free file program opened Friday the 15th and is available online here. Taxpayers with household incomes of $62,000 or less can use the program. They say that seventy percent of America’s taxpayers qualify for the program. Free file is available thanks to commercial partners of the IRS.

Households with an income over $62,000 can use the free file fillable forms starting tomorrow, January 19th. The fillable forms are electronic versions of the paper forms for those who know how to do their taxes themselves. The forms do math but only offer basic guidance and can only be used to file your federal return.

The IRS says they are ready and prepared for help tax season 2016. “IRS employees have been working hard to get ready to help taxpayers this filing season,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. “As part of our Security Summit initiative, the IRS has been working closely with the tax industry and state revenue departments to provide taxpayers with stronger protections against identity theft during the tax filing season.”

They encourage everyone to e-file and get their refund via direct deposit since those are the fastest and safest methods available to file and receive your refund. They expect that 4 out of 5 returns will be filed electronically and expect to give the same amount of refunds via direct deposit to taxpayer’s bank accounts.

They also remind taxpayers to turn to the web for help this tax season. They do plan to have more employees available to answer phone lines but still expect those lines to be very busy. The IRS.gov website should be the first stop for help and information.

For more information about this years tax season, check out the IRS website at IRS.govhttps://www.irs.gov