As the calendar turns towards the end of January, anticipation is building among taxpayers and professionals alike for the upcoming 2023 tax season. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is poised to introduce several significant updates and enhancements to its services, signaling a potentially smoother and more efficient filing experience for millions.
The IRS has officially announced that the process of accepting and treating the 2023 tax returns will begin on Monday, January 29th. This key date marks the start of a critical period for taxpayers and the agency, with preparations already underway to handle the expected influx of filings.
Important Updates on the 2023 Tax Filing Procedures
The IRS announced that the agency's Free File, catering to taxpayers with annual incomes of $79,000 or less, will be accessible on IRS.gov from Friday onwards. However, the IRS Direct File pilot, enabling eligible taxpayers to file their taxes online directly with the IRS at no cost, will not be fully implemented until mid-March.
In a recent report, the IRS announced it is expecting approximately 129 million single tax returns to be classified by the April 15 target date.
The IRS said that the latest and extensive resources and tools will cover the following points:
- Increased support on the toll-free helpline and expanded customer call-back features aimed at reducing wait times;
- Enhancements to the Where's My refund? tool, with upgrades allowing taxpayers to view more detailed refund status messages in straightforward language;
- Improved paperless processing, enabling taxpayers to digitally submit all correspondence, non-tax-forms and responses to notice. Additionally, the capability to e-File 20 additional tax forms, resulting in the potential submission of up to 125 million paper documents annually;
- Upgraded IRS Individual Online Account featuring a chat function, the ability to schedule and cancel future payments, revise payment plans and validate and save bank account information.
"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 issued in the release. "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," he added.