It’s official: the start of the 2024 tax season is Monday, Jan. 29.
The Internal Revenue Service announced on Monday that it is projecting more than 128.7 million individual tax returns to be filed by the tax filing deadline of April 15.
Recommended Videos
“As our transformation efforts take hold, taxpayers will continue to see marked improvement in IRS operations in the upcoming filing season,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said. “IRS employees are working hard to make sure that new funding is used to help taxpayers by making the process of preparing and filing taxes easier.”
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Some of the new and expanded tools and resources include:
- Expanded in-person service that meets taxpayers where they are by opening or reopening Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs). The IRS will also offer extended hours at many TACs nationwide.
- Increased help available on the toll-free line and an expanded customer call-back feature designed to significantly reduce wait times.
- Improvements to the Where’s My Refund? tool, which is the IRS’ most widely used taxpayer service tool. However, the tool provides limited information, often leading taxpayers to call the IRS to inquire about their refund status. Updates to Where’s My Refund? will allow taxpayers to see more detailed refund status messages in plain language. These updates will also ensure Where’s My Refund works seamlessly on mobile devices. Taxpayers often see a generic message stating that their returns are still being processed and to check back later. With the improvements, taxpayers will see clearer and more detailed updates, including whether the IRS needs them to respond to a letter requesting additional information. The new updates will reduce the need for taxpayers to call the IRS for answers to basic questions.
- Enhanced paperless processing that will enable taxpayers to submit all correspondence, non-tax forms, and responses to notices digitally and will be able to e-File 20 additional tax forms. Achieving this milestone will enable up to 125 million paper documents to be submitted digitally per year.
- An enhanced IRS Individual Online Account that includes chat, the option to schedule and cancel future payments, revise payment plans, and validate and save bank accounts.
The IRS is getting ready to roll out a direct file online option that will allow you to file your federal tax returns for free.
That should be available by mid-March.
Keep checking the Make Ends Meet newsletter and ClickOrlando for updates on the free tax filing program.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: