Tuesday, January 8, 2013

THIS JUST IN!


The IRS has just issued a statement regarding the “start” of the 2013 tax filing season.  Below are selected portions of that statement -

Following the January tax law changes made by Congress under the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA), the Internal Revenue Service announced today it plans to open the 2013 filing season and begin processing individual income tax returns on Jan. 30.

The IRS will begin accepting tax returns on that date after updating forms and completing programming and testing of its processing systems. This will reflect the bulk of the late tax law changes enacted Jan. 2. The announcement means that the vast majority of tax filers — more than 120 million households — should be able to start filing tax returns starting Jan 30.

The IRS estimates that remaining households will be able to start filing in late February or into March because of the need for more extensive form and processing systems changes.  

The key forms that require more extensive programming changes include Form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits), Form 4562 (Depreciation and Amortization) and Form 3800 (General Business Credit).  A full listing of the forms that won’t be accepted until later is available on IRS.gov. {I tried to find this list on IRS.gov but could not – rdf}

The IRS will not process paper tax returns before the anticipated Jan. 30 opening date. There is no advantage to filing on paper before the opening date.

I have always said that the tax filing season, for me at least, begins on February 1st – so I will not be delayed.  I do not anticipate having any returns that would include Forms 5695 or 3800 – but I do have several that do include Form 4562.  I will not delay preparing any such returns – but the clients whose returns contain this form may have to wait a little longer to get any refund.

As soon as I find out the other IRS forms that “require more extensive programming changes” I will let you know.

TTFN

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