Filing Season
Opens on Time Except for Certain Taxpayers Potentially Affected by AMT Patch
WASHINGTON
— The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the upcoming tax season
is expected to start on time for everyone except certain taxpayers potentially
affected by late enactment of the Alternative Minimum Tax “patch.”
Following
extensive work in recent weeks, the IRS expects to be able to begin processing
returns for the vast majority of taxpayers in mid-January. However, as many as
13.5 million taxpayers using five forms related to the Alternative Minimum Tax
(AMT) legislation will have to wait to file tax returns until the IRS completes
the reprogramming of its systems for the new law.
The IRS
has targeted Feb. 11, as the potential starting date for taxpayers to begin submitting
the five AMT-related returns affected by the legislation. The February date allows
the IRS enough time to update and test its systems to accommodate the AMT changes
without major disruptions to other operations related to the tax season. As the
IRS has said previously, it will take approximately seven weeks after the AMT
patch was approved to update IRS processing systems completely.
Although
as many as 13.5 million taxpayers will not be able to file their returns until
Feb. 11, the effect of the delay may be lessened by the fact that under previous
filing patterns only between 3 million to 4 million taxpayers file returns with
the five affected forms during these early weeks in the filing season.
“We
regret the inconvenience the delay will mean for millions of early tax filers,
especially those expecting a refund,” said Linda Stiff, Acting IRS Commissioner.
“We’ve taken extraordinary steps to figure out a way that we can start
the filing season on time for most taxpayers, including some using AMT-related
forms. Our goal has always been to make sure we can accurately process tax returns
while getting refunds to taxpayers as quickly as possible.”
The
February delay caused by the AMT patch will affect taxpayers using any of these
five forms:
- Form 8863, Education Credits.
- Form 5695, Residential
Energy Credits.
- Form 1040A’s Schedule 2, Child and Dependent
Care Expenses for Form 1040A Filers.
- Form 8396, Mortgage Interest
Credit.
- Form 8859, District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyer Credit.
While
these five forms require significant additional reprogramming due to the AMT patch,
the IRS has been able to reprogram its systems to begin processing seven other
AMT-related forms, including Form 6251, Alternative Minimum Tax – Individuals.
Taxpayers filing these seven forms should not experience delays in filing, and
the IRS expects to begin processing those returns starting on Jan. 14.
Electronic
returns involving those five forms will not be accepted until systems are updated
in February; similarly, paper filers should wait to file as well. All other e-file
and paper returns will be accepted starting in January. The IRS urges affected
taxpayers to file electronically in order to reduce wait times for their refunds.
E-file with direct deposit gets refunds in as little as 10 days, while paper returns
take four to six weeks.
“E-file is a great option for
everyone, especially if they are affected by the AMT,” said Richard Spires,
IRS Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support. “Filing electronically will
get people their refunds faster, and e-file greatly reduces the chances for making
an error on the AMT or other tax issues.”
In addition
to filing electronically, the IRS urges taxpayers to take simple steps to avoid
problems:
- Taxpayers filing electronically should make sure to update
their tax software in order to get the latest AMT updates.
- Taxpayers
with $54,000 or less in Adjusted Gross Income can use Free File to electronically
file their returns for free. Free File will only be available by visiting the
official IRS web site at IRS.gov. In all, 90 million taxpayers qualify for this
free service.
- Taxpayers who use tax software to print out paper copies
of tax forms should make sure they update their software before printing out forms.
Taxpayers using paper forms can also visit IRS.gov to get updated copies of AMT
forms.
The IRS has created a special section on IRS.gov
to provide taxpayers with additional information and copies of updated forms affected
by the AMT. In recent days, the IRS has posted updated copies of all forms affected
by the late enactment of the AMT patch by Congress.
The
IRS also reminds taxpayers that printed tax packages, which will begin arriving
in the mail around New Year’s, went to the printer in November before the
AMT changes were enacted. The packages reflect the law in effect at the time of
printing. The tax packages include cautionary language to taxpayers that late
legislation was pending.
The IRS is also working closely
with tax professionals and the tax preparation software community to make sure
they can help taxpayers with all of the latest developments on the enactment of
the AMT patch and other tax changes.
“The IRS is going
to continue to do everything it can to make this a fully successful filing season
for the nation’s taxpayers,” Stiff said. “We will continue to work
to keep taxpayers up to date and make this situation as easy as possible for everyone.”
