Taxpayers face hurdles as filing season opens
WASHINGTON — Count 30-year-old Ethan Miller among that subset of Americans who are eager to file their taxes once income tax filing season opens Monday.
The financial planner who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, is looking forward to claiming the new deductions that will come from buying a home. He also wants to get a jump on a tax season that promises to bring lots of extra headaches and delays for filers this year.
“I’m trying to get a head start on my taxes as much as possible,” Miller said, adding that he is not too nervous about forecasts of extra delays because he will file online and will not be waiting for too big a refund.
Plenty of other filers, though, may be in for more heartburn.
An IRS worker shortage, an enormous workload from administering pandemic-related programs and stalled legislation that would have given the agency billions of dollars for more expeditiously processing returns will combine to cause taxpayers pain this filing season.
Agency officials are already warning filers that “in many areas, we are unable to deliver the amount of service and enforcement that our taxpayers and tax system deserves and needs,” as IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig put it earlier in the month.
Delays in processing are to be expected as the IRS says it still is working through 2020 tax returns.
Deadlines to file have been extended in the past two years due to the pandemic. It is unclear whether this year the agency will offer similar leeway to taxpayers.
Still, the IRS anticipates that most taxpayers will receive their refund within 21 days of when they file electronically — barring any issues with processing their return.