So far, so good. That’s the word from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) after what they’re calling a “smooth opening” to the 2016 tax season. By mid-day, the IRS reported receipt of several thousand tax returns and no real filing issues.
My colleagues seemed to echo that sentiment with most reporting a fairly easy day. One of my fellow tax professionals reported reaching the IRS three times by phone yesterday with average wait times of about 10 minutes each – a far cry from the hour-plus wait times last year.
Of course, it’s still early but fingers crossed that the good news continues. In 2015, IRS received 150,927,000 individual income tax returns and expects to receive a similar number this year. The IRS also expects to issue tax refunds to more than 70% of taxpayers, as they did last year. In 2015, the IRS issued 109 million refunds, with an average refund of $2,797.
If you’re one of the more than 100 million taxpayers expecting a tax refund, you can check the status of your refund by using the “Where’s My Refund?” application on the IRS website. The IRS anticipates that they will issue more than nine out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days. To speed up the process, you can e-file and opt to receive your refund by direct deposit.
Remember, however, that IRS will be using additional screens to try and protect against identity theft-related tax fraud. Depending on your situation, this could slow down your tax refund, so be prepared to wait – and be patient. The same is true in some states (like Illinois and North Dakota).
If you’re looking for free tax filing options, consider Free File (more info here).
If you’d prefer to hire a tax preparer, do your homework.
And don’t let all of this talk about filing make you nervous: you don’t have to file early (I’m not). You have plenty of time – even more than usual. You have until Monday, April 18, 2016, to file your 2015 tax returns; taxpayers in Maine and Massachusetts will have until Tuesday, April 19, 2016 (more on due dates here).
