Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service
Tax season officially opened Jan. 24, but early birds will have to wait for refunds until March, as the Internal Revenue Service is barred from issuing payments before Feb. 15. “It is our intent that filing is as smooth and easy as possible. We want to make certain that consumers are getting all the credits and refunds they are eligible to receive,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, at a Jan. 28 briefing hosted by Ethnic Media Services.
IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said you can speed up the process by filing electronically, filing accurately, and requesting a direct deposit of refunds. Rettig said it has been tough during the pandemic to process all of the tax returns and the challenges continue. He said that’s why it is important to get everyone to file the most accurate return they can. Rettig said there are still issues with calling the I-R-S for help and he anticipates phone lines will continue to be jammed up for the foreseeable future. He said going online is the best option to get information through IRS.gov.
The deadline for tax returns to be filed is Monday, April 18 this year, three days later than the normal April 15 deadline for filing taxes. For those hoping to avoid costly online tax filing portals, the IRS recommends using the free file program at: https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free. The service is available to those with Adjusted Gross Incomes of under $73,000.
Ken Corbin, Wage and Investment Division Commissioner and Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer at the IRS, noted at the briefing that multiple changes have been made to the Earned Income Tax Credit program, allowing more people to avail of its benefits. For families without children, the benefit has almost tripled from a maximum of $529 for the 2020 tax season, to $1502 this year.
The credit has also been raised for families with children; one qualifying child allows for a maximum credit of $3,733, provided that household income is under $43,492. Two qualifying children allow for a maximum of $6,164, provided household income is under $49,399.
Rettig and Corbin noted the large number of scams, stemming from people who represented themselves as IRS agents. “The IRS will not call you by phone without a notice in advance. Don’t accept a text, a call, especially if they ask for bank info or to pay with a gift card. That is a scam,” cautioned Corbin.
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