The IRS has announced that tax season will open on Monday, January 27, 2025. According to IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, the entire IRS has been working to get ready for this day.
The date marks when IRS will begin accepting paper and electronic tax returns. The agency expects more than 140 million individual tax returns to be filed by Tax Day, April 15, 2025. More than half of all tax returns are expected to be filed this year with the help of a tax professional.
Many software companies and tax preparers will accept tax returns before opening day. For clarity, that doesn’t mean that your tax return will be filed early—the IRS will begin processing returns when the season officially opens.
Filing Deadline
The tax season filing deadline will be April 15, 2025. If you live or work in a federally declared disaster area, you may have additional time to file.
Tax Refunds
As of the end of last year, the IRS issued 104,866,000 tax refunds. The average tax refund was nearly $3,138, and most were issued via direct deposit. (The IRS says that’s the fastest way to get your refund.)
This year, the IRS anticipates issuing more than nine out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days. Although the IRS issues most refunds in less than 21 days, the IRS cautions taxpayers not to rely on receiving a refund by a specific date, especially when making major purchases or paying bills. Some returns may require additional review and may take longer.
The law requires the IRS to hold refunds tied to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) until mid-February. Remember that the rule applies to the entire refund—even the portion not associated with the EITC and ACTC. The hold allows the IRS to match information from forms W-2 and 1099 with data reported on tax returns—years ago, refunds could be issued before forms were matched, which increased the likelihood of fraud. The hold, together with bank processing times and bank holidays, means that taxpayers should start seeing those tax refunds around February 27, 2025, if they chose direct deposit and there are no other issues with their tax return.
You can check out Where’s My Refund? on IRS.gov or the IRS2Go mobile app for projected deposit dates.
2025 Tax Season Improvements
The IRS says it is working to continue the success of the 2023 and 2024 tax filing seasons made possible with additional resources from the Inflation Reduction Act. According to the agency, the past two filing seasons saw service levels of approximately 85% and wait times averaging less than five minutes on the main phone lines.
“Based on the IRS’ current plan and funding levels,” Werfel stressed, “the agency will work to provide similar levels of performance on these key service metrics in the upcoming filing season.”
That includes boosting hours at Taxpayer Assistance Centers. Taxpayers who need help can get in-person help at their local IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center—you will need to call for an appointment. You can find one near you here.
According to Werfel, the IRS aims to provide 10,000 extended hours at Taxpayer Assistance Centers. That should allow taxpayers who work during the week to find an appointment.
Direct File
Direct File will also open on January 27, 2025. The program allows eligible taxpayers to file their taxes directly with the IRS online for free.
During the filing season, Direct File will be available in 25 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. That means 62% of Americans will live in states offering Direct File.
(Once you’ve completed your federal tax return, Direct File will automatically guide you to state tools to complete your state tax filings.)
Direct File also now allows you to opt-in to automatically import data from your IRS account, including personal information, your IP PIN and some information from your W-2 (you’ll want to have that handy). It’s similar to the experience you’ll have with commercial tax software.
This year, you can also try a new chatbot to help guide you through the Direct File eligibility checker. Live chat will be available in English and Spanish, and you can opt into additional authentication and verification, allowing customer service representatives to provide you with more personal information.
Finally, Direct File will cover more tax situations, including the Child and Dependent Care Credit, Premium Tax Credit, Credit for the Elderly and Disabled, Retirement Savings Contribution Credits, and deductions for Health Savings Accounts.
Free File
You can also file electronically for free by using IRS Free File. Free File—available on the IRS Free File page on IRS.gov—allows taxpayers to choose from eight private-sector partners: 1040Now, Drake (1040.com), ezTaxReturn.com, FileYourTaxes.com, On-Line Taxes, TaxAct, TaxHawk (FreeTaxUSA), and TaxSlayer. For 2025, ezTaxReturn.com will provide an IRS Free File product in Spanish.
These products are generally available if your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI, found on line 11 of your Form 1040) was $84,000 or less in 2024. Each IRS Free File trusted partner establishes its own eligibility criteria based on age, income, state residency and military status.
If your AGI is above $84,000, you can use the Free File Fillable Forms (FFFF) starting January 27, 2025. FFFF are electronic versions of IRS paper forms targeted to taxpayers who are comfortable preparing their own taxes using IRS instructions and publications.
Other Filing Options
Other help is available, including Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)/Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs. You can find organizations in your community with IRS-certified volunteers (like me) who provide free tax help for eligible taxpayers, including seniors, the disabled, and those who speak limited English. According to Werfel, the goal is to increase VITA support by 5% during the tax season.
Taxpayers who are in the military can also benefit from a Department of Defense program called MilTax. MilTax e-filing software is free for service members, eligible family members, survivors and recent veterans up to 365 days from their separation or retirement date.
Online IRS Accounts
The IRS will continues to expand the functionality of online account through the filing season. If you haven’t tried to access yours, trust me when I say it’s worth the few minutes to create an account (Online Account for individuals on irs.gov). The online account allows you to view details from your most recent tax return, request an Identity Protection PIN, get account transcripts, sign tax forms like powers of attorney, view and edit language preferences and alternative media, and receive and view IRS electronic notices. You can also view, make, and cancel payments as well as set up or change payment plans and check your balance.
The IRS has also posted a new banner on the online account homepage that alerts taxpayers of potential scams and schemes. On the same page, you can see your correspondence from the IRS. This makes it easier to be aware of scams, while also having access to legitimate IRS communications.
Notices and Forms
The IRS redesigned 284 notices in 2024, exceeding the agency’s 200 notice goal—you’ll see the 84 additional redesigned notices in 2025. Taxpayers notices will be added to online accounts so that you can view them online.
Taxpayers can also access 67 forms on cell phones and tablets. The most recent forms feature “save and draft” capabilities, which allow the taxpayer to start a form, save, and return to it later. The addition of save and draft allows for future capabilities, including the ability for spouses to sign a form.
Voice bots and Chatbots
During filing season 2025, the IRS will offer voice bot services to taxpayers calling for refund information. The voice bot is available in English and Spanish. To use the service, you must authenticate your identity by providing some information from your tax return, so have yours handy.
The IRS has been using online chatbots for various functions. These chatbots use either guided help through choice buttons or an open text box for a customized question. To launch the chatbot, simply click on the “Chat” button in the lower right corner of the webpage. Not all pages offer the option—currently, you can use chatbots from eight IRS webpages.
Tax Professionals
Last year, more than half of taxpayers turn to a tax professional for help filing a tax return. The IRS encourages you (as do I) to locate a trusted tax professional.
If you need help finding a tax professional, ask a friend or colleague for a referral (exactly as you would for any other service). You can also use the IRS Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials and Select Qualifications to locate someone near you. The IRS also has a list of recognized national tax association to help you with your decision.
IRS Funding
Of course, the elephant in the room is what happens to the IRS if funding continues to shrink. I know what you’re thinking: What happened to that extra funding?
You’ll recall that at the end of last year, there were worries that the government would run out of money for the next fiscal year. To stave that off, Congress passed two continuing resolutions that largely funded most programs and activities at the fiscal year 2024 levels, with some exceptions.
That extra funding was made possible by the IRA—Congress provided an additional $80 billion in funding to the IRS over ten years. In 2023, Congress took a bite out of that funding. As part of the debt ceiling agreement, a little over $1 billion was pulled back from the agency. Shortly after, the IRA tax enforcement budget was cut by $20 billion. The cuts were supposed to happen over two years, but in the end, the entire $20 billion was included in the first year, 2024. And, since the continuing resolution would largely fund programs at the 2024 levels, that included those cuts (again). The result was an additional $20 billion funding cut to the IRS.
The IRS knows that it’s not popular, but the agency argues that it’s used additional funding to make the taxpayer experience better. Last year, Werfel said, by using the IRA funding, the IRS has made an immediate, meaningful difference in how it serves taxpayers.
And, there’s the practical issues around funding: the IRS is responsible for collecting most of the money that keeps the lights on in the government. Focusing on making it easier for taxpayers to comply means that collections tick up. “Adding to our budget,” notes Werfel, “actually decreases the deficit.”
As for whether Werfel expects to be around? Late last year, President-elect Donald Trump announced he has tapped former Congressman Billy Long as IRS Commissioner, even though Werfel is serving a term that would normally run until late in 2027. Werfel said, when asked about his departure, that he was laser focused “on one thing and one thing only and that is getting ready for this filing season. That is my sole focus.”
More Info
If you need help this tax season, it is available. In addition to the resources above, the IRS has developed a Get Ready page on IRS.gov to highlight steps taxpayers can take to streamline the filing process.
And, of course, check back with the Forbes tax team for updates throughout the season.
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