IRS: Tax season to start on time

The IRS announced that tax season will start on time this year and it will begin accepting e-filed and paper returns on Jan. 20, as originally planned (IR-2014-119).

Last year, the agency warned that late passage of legislation extending expired tax provisions could delay the start of filing season (see coverage here). But, in announcing the Service’s ability to start tax season on time, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said, “We have reviewed the late tax law changes and determined there was nothing preventing us from continuing our updating and testing of our systems.” The on-time start will mark a change from recent filing seasons; practitioners have faced delayed starts the past two years, making those tax seasons even busier than usual.

The IRS also reiterated that, as in earlier years, filing a paper return before Jan. 20 will not accelerate the refund process and reminded taxpayers that e-filing is more accurate than paper filing and results in faster refunds.

—Sally P. Schreiber is a JofA senior editor.