2018 Income Tax Filing Season Starts on 1/29/18
Barry Weller
by Barry L Weller, EA
The IRS and most states will open tax filing for your 2017 income tax returns on January 29, 2018. The deadline for filing a return is Tuesday, April 17, 2018. The deadline is extended because April 15th falls on a Sunday and Emancipation Day, a holiday in Washington, D.C., will be observed on Monday, April 16th, thereby pushing the nation’s filing deadline to April 17th.
Refunds Claiming the EITC or ACTC will be held until Mid-February
The PATH Act is a federal law that was enacted in 2015 and for this tax season is still in effect. This law requires the IRS not release refunds for people claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) before mid-February. The IRS must hold the entire refund, not just a portion of the refund attributed to the credits. Taxpayers claiming refunds with these credits should not expect their refund to be deposited into their bank accounts until February 27, 2018. Why the delay? The IRS needs time to screen these returns for fraud. Then, a federal holiday, Presidents Day is February 19th. Lastly, the IRS says the banking and financial systems need time to process the refunds.
Barry L Weller, EA is the president of Barry Weller & Associates with offices at 19 N Reading Ave, Boyertown, PA 19512 Phone (610) 367-8280 He is an enrolled agent, licensed to represent taxpayers before the IRS. (updated 1/17/2018)