Tax day deadline: What you need to know to file your returns

Tax day has arrived. Most Americans have until 11:59 p.m. local time tonight to file his 2023 return without late fees.

The 2024 filing season is marked by improvements in service metrics following an $80 billion funding boost to the IRS. The funding will enable the agency to enhance its digital capabilities, allowing more people to interact with the IRS online, including through a new online tax filing tool that rivals similar products in the private sector.

The free IRS Direct File program has accepted 100,000 returns, the Treasury Department announced Monday.

Residents of Maine or Massachusetts have until Wednesday, April 17th to file their taxes due to the state holiday.

Americans seeking an extension of the filing deadline should: Form 4868 The deadline to file your 2023 return is October 15th, but Americans living abroad may be able to get an extension.

Here’s a look at the key issues and filing statistics this tax season.

Different ways to submit files for free

The highlight of the 2024 filing season from an IRS perspective will likely be Direct File Pilot Programa new online tool that allows taxpayers to file returns directly on the IRS website, is available in 12 states.

More than 100,000 people have filed returns using the new system, Treasury officials said Monday, noting that interest in the program has seen a “surge” in recent days.

“More than 50,000 taxpayers have filed their returns using Direct File over the past week, reaching our goal of receiving 100,000 returns by noon on Sunday, April 14,” officials said. said in a statement provided to The Hill.

The new system comes in the wake of backlash against Intuit, the maker of the popular commercial tax filing software TurboTax. Intuit was targeted by state attorneys general in 2023. deceptive marketing techniques The result was a multi-million dollar class action settlement.Also charged with fraud Federal Trade Commission.

Direct File is one of the few free tax preparation options available to U.S. citizens. These include Free File, a public-private partnership between the agency and tax preparation companies, which has been criticized for steering users. expensive optionand some Volunteer tax assistance program Adjusted by the IRS.

There is also MilTax, a Department of Defense program that provides veterans and military personnel with free return preparation and the option to electronically file their federal tax returns.

Service improves as pandemic backlog worsens

The IRS is touting improvements to its phone service as part of the $3.2 billion budget increase passed as part of the Inflation Control Act (IRA), which includes $1.1 billion in new spending on taxpayer services. There is.

“Continuing the trend seen last year following the addition of 5,000 new telephone assistants, IRS service levels on major telephone lines reached more than 88 percent,” the IRS said in a statement Monday, adding, “Following the addition of 5,000 new telephone assistants, It has increased five times.” That’s the level of phone service we’ve seen during the pandemic. ”

The IRS’s “service level” is an internal technical metric and does not count the number of callers who are transferred to a robot or who hang up before being connected to an agent. According to the National Taxpayer Advocate, only 29 percent of calls to the agency were actually answered by a person during fiscal year 2023, and the overall percentage for 2024 is not yet available.

The IRS announced Monday that during the 2024 filing season, taxpayers waited an average of three minutes for help on the main IRS line.

The agency announced that it received more calls from taxpayers this year, an increase of 16.8% from 2023. IRS employees responded to 7.608 million calls, up from 6.513 million a year earlier.

The Government Accountability Office announced in February that the IRS had 6.1 million delinquent tax returns by “the end of the last filing season,” 10.3 million fewer than at the same time last year.

Tax digitization progresses

The IRS website will receive approximately 500 million visits during the 2024 filing season, an 18% increase from the previous year, the latest sign of the increasing digitalization of U.S. taxation.

The agency attributes this increase to interest in “Where’s my refund?” The tool accounted for more than half of all visits with his 275 million visits, an increase of 29% since 2023.

Recent IRS data shows that returns are increasingly being filed digitally over the past decade. In 2014, his 15.49 percent of personal tax returns were filed in paper hardcopy, but that percentage dropped to 6.18 percent in 2022.

The IRS website provides additional tools that taxpayers can use to file their taxes, including a list of payment options and various best practices for completing your return.

For those who are unable to pay their 2024 taxes in full, the IRS offers monthly payment plans that can be processed over up to 72 months.

The IRS is modernizing

The IRS service improvements come against the backdrop of a major overhaul of the agency made possible by increased funding for the IRA.

A recent analysis of spending by the Treasury Department’s Tax Inspector General (TIGTA) found that about 5.6 percent of that money has been spent so far.

Most of the $80 billion will be earmarked for increased enforcement, with the Biden administration targeting large companies and individuals with annual incomes of $400,000 or more.

But of the $44 billion set aside to strengthen audits, only 1% has been spent so far, according to TIGTA, and additional enforcement requires skilled auditors who will take time to hire and train. It is a result of the fact that people are needed.

IRS officials say it will take years for data to confirm that improved audit rates and additional tax enforcement will recover funds.