Tax Season Begins January 19th, Ends April 18th

Tax season is almost here. The IRS will begin processing tax returns on Tuesday, January 19th.

That will be the first day that e-file providers (like us) will be able to transmit tax returns. Paper-filed returns will begin to be processed on that day as well, although the processing time for paper returns is 3-4 times longer than e-filing.

The tax deadline for 2016 has been extended all the way until Monday, April 18th, except for Massachusetts and Maine, who have an extra day to due to Patriot's Day. The reason that returns are not due on April 15th is because Washington DC celebrates Emancipation Day that Friday.

Unlike prior years, both business and individual tax returns can be filed on that date. In prior years, the IRS has held off on receiving business tax returns until later in the season because Congress has been delaying on approving numerous tax extensions until the last minute (last year the extension package wasn't signed into law until December 19th). A compromise was reached about two weeks ago this year, meaning that the IRS has sufficient time to prepare going into 2016.

The IRS expects to receive about 150 million tax returns this year, the majority of which will be filed electronically.

We'll be ready.

Bill