Don’t Let the Delayed Tax Season Stop You from Being Prepared

The IRS recently announced that, for the second year in a row, it will delay the start of tax season. However, the April 15 filing deadline, which is set by statute, remains in place. Last year it was the fiscal cliff negotiations that pushed back the start of the tax filing period. This year, of course, it is the 16-day government shutdown that put the IRS approximately one to two weeks behind in preparing for the 2014 filing season.

According to an IRS news release, the government entity is “exploring options to shorten the expected delay and will announce a final decision on the start of the 2014 filing season in December.”  The original start date of the 2014 filing season was January 21, so with a one- to two-week delay, the IRS will potentially start accepting and processing 2013 individual tax returns no earlier than Jan. 28 and no later than Feb. 4.

Although the IRS is behind schedule, we encourage our clients to start preparing now in order to be prepared for filing as soon as the opening date of tax season arrives. Start organizing your tax documents and don’t hesitate to contact our office if you need tax planning advice or have questions about this tax season.

For more information about the professionals at BW James visit http://www.bwjames.com

Government Shutdown Will Delay Tax Filing Season

One of the many unfortunate side effects of the 16 day Government Shutdown is the likely delay of tax refunds for millions of early filers by 1-2 weeks.

The IRS announced Tuesday that they won’t be able to start processing tax returns until at least January 28 and possibly as late as February 4th.  Under normal circumstances the processing would begin on January 21st.  And with congress set to return to budget talks in early January, the possibility of a January Government shutdown could delay refunds even longer.

Despite the Government shutdown and possible processing delay, taxpayers are still required to file their returns by April 15th and companies must still send all W-2’s and other tax forms on schedule.  

The IRS stated the extra time is needed to program and test tax-processing systems which will be used during the 2014 filing season.

Roughly 90% of the IRS was idle during the shutdown, putting the Internal Revenue Service around three weeks behind in preparations.  

The IRS will announce the date it will begin accepting returns in December and stated there won’t be any advantage to filing before that date.  Each year sees many new tax changes and laws, all of which have to be updated in the IRS computers.  There will be a lot of fingers crossed that there aren’t any additional problems between now and January, in order to limit the delays to the current estimate of one or two weeks.

BW James LLP has you covered when it comes to staying up to date on all tax updates and can help keep you prepared for the normal tax deadlines.  For more information about the professionals at BW James visit http://www.bwjames.com