Tax Tips
Delayed Refunds/Key Dates
By Michael Aston, E.A.
Alhambra Tax Center
When President Obama came into office, his first big tax-change was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Many people filed their tax returns early, to get their big income tax refund quickly. The changes within The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act), which was enacted December 2015 will delay refunds for tax returns that claimed the EITC and/or ACTC credit.
This means – no more quick refunds when you file early.
The change begins January 1, 2017, and the information below is from the IRS website.
· To comply with the law, the IRS will hold the refunds of EITC and ACTC related returns until February 15.
· This allows additional time to help prevent revenue lost due to identity theft and refund fraud related to fabricated wages and withholdings.
· The IRS will hold the entire refund. Under the new law, the IRS cannot release the part of the refund that is not associated with EITC and ACTC.
· Taxpayers should file as they normally do and tax return preparers should also submit returns as they normally do.
· The IRS will begin accepting and processing tax returns once the filing season begins, as we do every year. That will not change.
· The IRS still expects to release most refund less than 21 days, the IRS will hold refunds for AITC and ACTC related tax returns filed early until February 15.
Below are some key dates that you may like to know for 2017, all dates are based on a Jan 1 to Dec 31 year. Any other fiscal years consult IRS.gov.
January 1 – First day to file a 2016 tax return if mailing in paper versions. The IRS will most likely not process the return until the end of January.
January 23 – The IRS E-file will go live. Even though in the past the IRS will except some returns before this date for testing the systems, this is the first official day for E-file.
January 31 – This is the date that all W-2’s and 1095’s must be postmarked.
February 1 – Deadline for most 1099’s
February 16 – Deadline for 1099-B (Brokers Information), 1099-S (Sale) and 1099-Misc to be postmarked.
March 15 – S Corporations and Partnership returns due.
April 18 – (TAX DAY) Last day for filing personal income tax and extension requests. (April 15th is a Saturday.) Also due are Trust and Estate Tax Returns.
April 18 – Last day to make a contribution to a Traditional or Roth IRA, HAS, or 401K.
May 15 – Exempt Organizations deadline.
September 15 – Partnership and S Corporations which filed extension are due.
October 2 – Trust and Estates that file extensions are due.
October 15 – Any personal extension that were file in April are due.
November 15 – Any Exempt Organizations that filed an extension are due.