Key Dates to Know for Tax-Filing Season

The IRS building in Washington on Jan. 4, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Once the calendar turned to 2025, Americans started receiving tax documents.

Several key dates for taxpayers are approaching as January comes to an end.

First, tax season starts on Monday, Jan. 27, the IRS announced earlier in the month.

The IRS is making its Direct File program, first unveiled in 2024, available to more people this year. Direct File will be open for taxpayers in 25 states on Monday.

Residents of Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, and Wyoming were able to use Direct File in its first year. People living in Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin will be able to use the program this year.

The IRS is also pointing people to a different program, called Free File, to prepare their returns ahead of time and be ready to file the returns when the IRS starts accepting them. Many private companies are also helping people prepare returns now ahead of the start of tax season.

The tax filing deadline is, as usual, April 15, for most people. April 15 is a Tuesday this year.

For people using a fiscal year rather than a calendar year, returns are due on or before the 15th day of the fourth month after the close of the fiscal year.

Taxpayers can receive an extension of filing taxes. If they do, taxes do not need to be filed until Oct. 15. The taxes they owe, however, are still due by the April filing deadline.

To receive an extension, people can request an extension by mail, use Free File to request an automatic extension, or pay what they owe online.

People who miss the deadline must pay 5 percent of the unpaid taxes for each month or part of a month that their returns are late. Interest is also charged on penalties. The IRS says each individual’s penalty will not exceed 25 percent of their unpaid taxes.

Americans who paid more in 2024 in taxes than they owe may receive a refund. Most refunds are issued within 21 days for people who file their taxes electronically. For those who use paper returns, refunds can take more than a month.

People who want to check the status of their refund can use this IRS page. There’s a separate page for people who file amended returns.

Some 163 million returns were filed for 2023, and the IRS projects more than 140 million people to file returns ahead of the April 15 deadline.