IRS Moves Start of Tax Season Forward to January 30th!

It’s official: January 30th will be the first day to e-file taxes in 2013!

Well, this was hardly a surprise. The IRS  announced Tuesday that it was kicking forward the opening of the 2013 tax season to Wednesday, Jan 30th. That’s a full eight days later than the previously announced January 22nd marker, which was itself set five days past the Jan 17 date on which the 2012 season began.

It would be cheap, at best, to blame the Taxman. After the protracted end of year mess in Washington, the agency could hardly have been expected to have all its t’s crossed and its many i’s dotted by mid-month. For anyone in need of a reminder, legislation to pull the nation off the fiscal cliff was only passed on the second day of the year!

“We have worked hard to open tax season as soon as possible,”  said IRS Acting Commissioner Steven Miller in a statement issued Tuesday.. “This date ensures we have the time we need to update and test our processing systems,” he added.

So when does tax season start in 2013? The old 22nd date, on which e-filing was set to begin, left open the option of paper filing your tax return hours after the din of the fireworks had died down, which is to say on Jan 1st. This will not be possible this time around.

Instead, both e-file and paper filing will have to wait for the end of January’s opening bell, further reducing the incentive to paper file. In the IRS’s estimate, more than 80 million taxpayers filed online last year. This is a number the agency’s brass is intent on increasing.

Starting Jan 30, the large majority of taxpayers, or roughly 120 million households, will be able to file their tax return, whether they go online or put pencil to paper. The rest, notably those claiming residential energy and some business credits, will have to wait longer, until late February and possibly into March.

Photo via Scott S on Flickr.

36 Replies to “IRS Moves Start of Tax Season Forward to January 30th!”

  1. What is the deal with college students not being able to file claiming tuition costs? I was told that the form needed would not be available till toward the end of February.

  2. Hi I submitted mine 3 weeks ago.. I have no accept no pending no nothing.. and youre customer service isnt taking calls? do I have to resubmit?

  3. Hello, I have sent an email to you days ago without reply.. I did my returns and submitted about 3 weeks ago.. do I have to resubmit or just wait to be accepted. I have been using youre services for years no complaints!waiting is ridiculous! Can u give a heads up when mine will be accepted please?

    1. Hi Shay,

      I apologize one of our customer service representatives hasn’t gotten back to you yet. As you can imagine, given the delay of the season by two weeks this year, we are pretty swamped by a backlog of returns submitted during January. At this point I don’t have enough information to look into your account specifically, but I can tell you that you probably don’t need to resubmit your return. If you have further questions or complaints please contact customer service directly at 877-289-7580 or you can live chat us through the website. I apologize for the delay and thank you for your patience.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *