IRS Announces Tax Filing Season Start Date – 19 January 2016

19 January 2016 will mark the beginning of the 2016 filing season. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that tax return filing for this year will begin one day earlier than the previous one. Last year, it started on January 20.

Tax Day also witnessed slight change as Washington, D.C. is celebrating Emancipation Day on April 15 instead of the usual April 16, which is a Saturday. Hence, Tax Day will be the Monday, April 18, 2016. Because this date coincides with Patriot’s day, Massachusetts and Maine will observe the Tax Day on April 19. All in all, this tax season starts early and ends with a delay. So, the taxpayers have more than the regular time period to file their returns.

Coming back to the beginning of filing, 19 January will mark the beginning of tax filing for both –paper-based as well as software-based of e-filing professionals. IRS announced that filing via paper will not earn any advantage over the electronic means. Clearly, tax software and e-filing solutions are witnessing immense popularity among the taxpayers and IRS is in no mood to oppose it. IRS expects that more than four-fifths of the 150 million returns to be filed via non-paper means.

These stats are also indicative of the growing trust on digital means that have often been stained by the tax frauds. IRS has been working with various tax professionals and software makers to secure the overall ambiance. Still, filing the returns early can be a smart and effective way to stay safe.

If you are way too late with the preparations, the following links might be able to help you:

1. How Small Businesses Can Masterly File Their Taxes
2. How to Get a Head Start on Preparing for This Tax Season
3. Hosting Tax Software on Cloud

Another aspect that tax professionals should take care of is that tax software claiming for early (before 19 January) filing can only prepare the returns early. But, they will process the returns only after IRS allows the filling. So, it is better not to choose your tax filing software only on the basis of filing dates that they provide. Picking up software that serves your tax needs better should make a smart choice. Think of the various requirements that you return filing will depend upon, such as- the number of transactions, business size, states in consideration, etc. Then analyses the choices available to meet those requirements and pick the most suitable one.