The IRS has announced tax filing is to begin January 29, 2024 for US 2023 tax returns. Most of the almost 130 million individual tax returns will be due on Monday, April 15, 2024. The IRS will accept your tax return after January 29, but you do not need to wait until then to start preparing your 2023 tax return.

The IRS is anxious to demonstrate progress after a new round of recent funding. "IRS employees are working hard to make sure that new funding is used to help taxpayers by making the process of preparing and filing taxes easier," said Danny Werfel, IRS Commissioner. “Taxpayers will continue to see marked improvements in IRS operations in the upcoming filing season.”

While IRS announced tax filing is to begin January 29, 2024 the agency also disclosed it is piloting a new, free tax filing service known as “Direct File” intended for a roll out in March of this year. The goal of the program is to “test the feasibility of providing taxpayers a new option to file their returns for free directly with the I.R.S.,” said Commissioner Werfel. This IRS “in-house filing system” will allow US taxpayers to submit federal tax returns without cost to the IRS directly.

The program has raised concerns in many sectors from cost-based tax return preparers to Congress. While the new “Direct File” program is presently targeted to make it easy for lower to moderate income households with simple tax returns to submit their federal tax return, many are concerned about the perception of “increased power” the new program will provide to the IRS over US taxpayers.

Tania Mercado, a spokesperson for Intuit (the maker of the popular tax preparation software “Turbo Tax”) criticized the new “Direct file” program as a waste of taxpayer dollars and “a solution in search of a problem,” as well as a “half-baked solution.”

Will you be working on your own returns using tax preparation software, or working with a tax professional for your 2023 business and personal tax returns? Now is the time to begin organizing and communicating all of the information required to prepare those tax returns to the professionals you work with. The IRS has developed several online tools to assist with the preparation of tax returns as well as the selection of a tax professional who is “skilled in tax preparation and accurately files income tax returns.”

This is why the IRS has developed “Tips for Choosing a Tax Preparer” and issued warnings urging US taxpayers to avoid “unethical ghost return preparers.” If the person or company preparing your tax return does not sign it the IRS warns this is a red flag as the preparer is often targeting a substantial (and unfair) portion of your refund. The IRS has issued warnings concerning several additional scams targeting US taxpayers including employee retention credit scams, purported “unclaimed funds” as well as telephone and e-mail scams.

It is also important to remember that the due date for 2023 Q4 estimated tax payments is January 16. Many individuals such as sole proprietors, partners, and shareholders in an S Corporation are required to make quarterly estimated tax payments if their total expected tax due to the IRS will be $1,000 or more at the time a tax return is filed.