Tax Season Starts Feb 12 2021

[cathy63]

Tax season will be starting about 2 1/2 weeks later than usual this year.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2021-t...tlines-steps-to-speed-refunds-during-pandemic

The Internal Revenue Service announced that the nation's tax season will start on Friday, February 12, 2021, when the tax agency will begin accepting and processing 2020 tax year returns.

The February 12 start date for individual tax return filers allows the IRS time to do additional programming and testing of IRS systems following the December 27 tax law changes that provided a second round of Economic Impact Payments and other benefits.

...

People can begin filing their tax returns immediately with tax software companies, including IRS Free File partners. These groups are starting to accept tax returns now, and the returns will be transmitted to the IRS starting February 12.

 

[jebmke]

My guess is that tax software will be processing significant updates through February. Normally software becomes stable by mid-March. Might take a little longer this year with the late changes.


Will be interesting to see if they push the April 15 deadline out.

 

[pb4uski]

How about they don't start the 2020 tax season until all the 2019 returns have been processed and refunds made... DS is still waiting for his 2019 refund. A friend who filed his return on paper in April still hasn't seen his refund either.

The IRS sucks.

 

[littleb]

I sent my 2019 tax return to the IRS the end of February 2020. This is the first year I did our taxes and wanted to make sure they received the documents so I mailed it. Also included the 25.00 check we owed.

The check was cashed within a week but our income on my ss statement was not recorded until a few weeks ago.

We also did not receive the 2nd stimulus check yet cause it took the IRS over 10 months to process our return.

 

[Souschef]

It does not matter that much to many of us. I got notices from FIDO and a couple of other brokerages that the 1099's will not be available to mid February.

 

[CardsFan]

It does not matter that much to many of us. I got notices from FIDO and a couple of other brokerages that the 1099's will not be available to mid February.

I have always looked at Feb 15 as the earliest I would get brokerage statements and, often, they get corrected into March. I will wait until then.

 

[donheff]

Sounds like a good year to wait for tax software updates.

 

[Car-Guy]

The IRS sucks.

Hopefully, you didn't just recently discover this?

 

[Midpack]

I have always looked at Feb 15 as the earliest I would get brokerage statements and, often, they get corrected into March. I will wait until then.

+1. Me too. I usually wait until my 1099s are downloadable directly into TurboTax and IIRC that’s always a few weeks later than when they’re first available to print or upload. Could be March this year, but hopefully I’ll owe as planned (vs a refund).

 

[scrabbler1]

I usually wait until late March or early April to file because I owe money. But this time, for the Feds at least, I will be getting a refund (~$450) for the first time in at least 15 years. So, I plan to file by the end of February, after I get my 1099s and 1095A. I will owe the state so I'll file with them per usual schedule.

 

[Jerry1]

I usually file in April or later. If I have a refund, I just roll it forward and adjust going forward so it really doesn’t matter to me financially. If I owe, I get it done on April 15th.

The only thing that’s made me think about filing sooner is that I understand it’s a deterrent to someone else filing under my SS# - get in before the crooks do. Sad.

 

[scrabbler1]

I usually file in April or later. If I have a refund, I just roll it forward and adjust going forward so it really doesn’t matter to me financially. If I owe, I get it done on April 15th.

I will consider this when I finalize my return in a month or so. But one thing to consider is if there will be another stimulus check coming out soon which will also be based on our 2019 returns. That return, which will prevent me from getting a check, will force me to take it as a tax credit on my 2021 return.

Because my actual ACA subsidy shown on Form 8962 will very likely exceed what I get over the year in reduced premium payments, that excess amount is also likely to exceed my pretty small tax liability, pushing me into refund territory. Throw in the stimulus check taken as a tax credit and there is no real point to just rolling over any anticipated refund from a prior year.

 

[cathy63]

How about they don't start the 2020 tax season until all the 2019 returns have been processed and refunds made... DS is still waiting for his 2019 refund. A friend who filed his return on paper in April still hasn't seen his refund either.

The IRS sucks.

Yeah. DD is in a similar situation. She forgot a 1095-A that covered the first couple months of the year, so the IRS sent her a letter about that and I helped her respond; but she'd already done an amended return on paper to claim the retirement savings credit, which she also forgot, so there are three different refund numbers floating around out there and who knows when the IRS will untangle her mess. I told her it's a life lesson about the importance of keeping your finances in order and she might not see that $600 until 2022 at this rate.

I think this year will also not be a good one to file a paper return. If expecting a refund, e-file as soon as possible and make an extra effort to include everything the first time.

 

[audreyh1]

It does not matter that much to many of us. I got notices from FIDO and a couple of other brokerages that the 1099's will not be available to mid February.

Brokerage 1099s are usually not available until Feb at the earliest.

I have always looked at Feb 15 as the earliest I would get brokerage statements and, often, they get corrected into March. I will wait until then.

Exactly!

We’re often waiting until late March anyway for foreign tax credit details.

 

[jebmke]

Always e-file unless you absolutely cannot (some forms cannot be e-filed). Always try to owe at least a little, if possible.

 

[jebmke]

I have always looked at Feb 15 as the earliest I would get brokerage statements and, often, they get corrected into March. I will wait until then.

According to Vanguard's web site, my Consolidated Brokerage statement will be available on January 25. Our joint brokerage won't be available until Feb 15. Not sure why they are different. Both will have foreign tax paid amounts.

 

[cathy63]

According to Vanguard's web site, my Consolidated Brokerage statement will be available on January 25. Our joint brokerage won't be available until Feb 15. Not sure why they are different. Both will have foreign tax paid amounts.

It depends what you have in the accounts. I've already got the 1099 from an account that just has individual stocks and cash. There's some foreign tax that's paid throughout the year, but the amount is known as soon as its paid. For that account, the entire 1099 can be generated on Jan 1 as soon as the December interest is paid, and it usually comes out very quickly.

Our other account has mutual funds and a REIT. The fund numbers will be finalized by mid-Feb, but the REIT always has to do a correction in March, or sometimes even later.