{"id":4493,"date":"2017-01-09T12:26:36","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T11:26:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.40.31.108\/?p=4493"},"modified":"2017-01-09T12:26:36","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T11:26:36","slug":"2017-tax-filing-season-begins-jan-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/2017-tax-filing-season-begins-jan-23\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 tax filing season begins Jan. 23"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Internal Revenue Service announced in December that the nation\u2019s tax season will begin\u00a0Monday, Jan. 23, 2017\u00a0<\/strong>and reminded taxpayers claiming certain tax credits to expect a longer wait for refunds.<\/p>\n

The IRS<\/a> will begin accepting electronic tax returns that day, with more than 153 million individual tax returns expected to be filed in 2017. The IRS again expects more than four out of five tax returns will be prepared electronically using tax return preparation software.<\/p>\n

US Tax Consultants, as tax professionals<\/strong> are accepting information for tax returns from now on and then we will submit the returns when IRS systems open. The IRS will begin processing paper tax returns at the same time. There is no advantage to filing tax returns on paper in early January instead of waiting for the IRS to begin accepting e-filed returns.<\/p>\n

The IRS reminds taxpayers that a new law requires the IRS to hold refunds claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) until\u00a0Feb. 15.<\/strong> In addition, the IRS wants taxpayers to be aware it will take several days for these refunds to be released and processed through financial institutions. Factoring in weekends and the President\u2019s Day holiday, the IRS cautions that many affected taxpayers may not have actual access to their refunds until the week of\u00a0Feb. 27.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this tax season, it\u2019s more important than ever for taxpayers to plan ahead,<\/strong>\u201d IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. \u201cPeople should make sure they have their year-end tax statements in hand, and we encourage people to file as they normally would, including those claiming the credits affected by the refund delay. Even with these significant changes, IRS employees and the entire tax community will be working hard to make this a smooth filing season for taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IRS also reminds taxpayers that they should keep copies of their prior-year tax returns for at least three years.<\/strong> Taxpayers who are changing tax software products this filing season will need their adjusted gross income from their 2015 tax return in order to file electronically. The Electronic Filing Pin is no longer an option. Taxpayers can visit IRS.Gov\/GetReady<\/u> for more tips on preparing to file their 2016 tax return.<\/p>\n

April 18<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Filing Deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n

The filing deadline to submit 2016 tax returns is\u00a0Tuesday, April 18, 2017,<\/strong> rather than the traditional\u00a0April 15\u00a0date.\u00a0In 2017,\u00a0April 15\u00a0falls on a Saturday, and this would usually move the filing deadline to the following Monday \u2013\u00a0April 17. However, Emancipation Day \u2013 a legal holiday in the District of Columbia \u2013 will be observed on that Monday, which pushes the nation\u2019s filing deadline to\u00a0Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Under the tax law, legal holidays in the District of Columbia affect the filing deadline across the nation.<\/p>\n

Refunds in 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Choosing e-file and direct deposit for refunds remains the fastest and safest way to file an accurate income tax return<\/strong> and receive a refund.<\/p>\n

The IRS still anticipates issuing more than nine out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days, but there are some important factors to keep in mind for taxpayers.<\/p>\n

Beginning in 2017, a new law requires the IRS to hold refunds on tax returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit until mid-February. Under the change required by Congress in the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, the IRS must hold the entire refund \u2014 even the portion not associated with the EITC and ACTC \u2014 until at least\u00a0Feb. 15. This change helps ensure that taxpayers get the refund they are owed by giving the IRS more time to help detect and prevent fraud.<\/p>\n

Help for Taxpayers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The IRS also reminds taxpayers that a trusted tax professional can provide helpful information and advice<\/strong> about the ever-changing tax code.\u00a0Tips for choosing a return preparer\u00a0and details about\u00a0national tax professional groups\u00a0are available on IRS.gov.<\/p>\n

Renewal Reminder for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINS)
\n<\/strong>ITINs are used by people who have tax-filing or payment obligations under U.S. law but are not eligible for a Social Security number. Under a recent change in law, any ITIN not used on a tax return at least once in the past three years will expire on\u00a0Jan. 1,2017.<\/strong> In addition, any ITIN with middle digits of either 78 or 79 (9NN-78-NNNN or 9NN-79-NNNN) will also expire on that date.<\/p>\n

This means that anyone with an expiring ITIN and a need to file a tax return in the upcoming filing season should file a renewal application in the next few weeks to avoid lengthy refund and processing delays.<\/strong> Failure to renew early could result in refund delays and denial of some tax benefits until the ITIN is renewed.<\/p>\n

An ITIN renewal application filed now will be processed before one submitted at the height of tax season from mid-January to February. Currently, a complete and accurate renewal application can be processed in as little as seven weeks. But this timeframe is expected to expand to as much as 11 weeks during tax season, which runs from mid-January through April.<\/p>\n

Several common errors are currently slowing down or holding up ITIN renewal applications. The mistakes generally center on missing information, and\/or insufficient supporting documentation. ITIN renewal applicants should be sure to use the latest version of Form W-7, revised September 2016. The most current version of the form, along with its\u00a0instructions, are posted on IRS.gov<\/u>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Internal Revenue Service announced in December that the nation\u2019s tax season will begin\u00a0Monday, Jan. 23, 2017\u00a0and reminded taxpayers claiming certain tax credits to expect a longer wait for refunds. The IRS will begin accepting electronic tax returns that day, with more than 153 million individual tax returns expected to be filed in 2017. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,36,25,28,30,23,41,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gallery-4-cols-pc","category-education","category-fatca","category-fbar","category-grid-2-cols-side-left-gallery-pc","category-irs","category-grid-1-col-side-right-pc","category-us-tax-return-1040-1040nr"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustaxconsultants.es\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}