No Money Just Yet…IRS Delays Tax Refund File Date

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the fiscal cliff fiasco, many tax filers will be pissed to learn that it’s too early now to file.  The reason is because the Internal Revenue Service will have to take time reprogramming their systems.  The new tax provisions, recently approved by Congress, are being incorporated in the IRS system. In addition to updating the 2012 tax forms, the IRS believes this process will take more time to complete.  Most of the time, individuals can file taxes in mid-January.  But because of the last minute fiscal cliff Congressional sessions, the IRS doesn’t know when Americans will be able to file.

According to CNNMoney.com…

This year, the situation is even more complicated since Congress didn’t act until New Year’s Day. While the IRS has published Form 1040 for 2012, several lines are listed as “reserved.” The designation is a “placeholder” for several fiscal cliff provisions, an agency spokesman said. The IRS has yet to publish an instruction booklet for filling out the tax forms, leaving tax preparers in a holding pattern.

 

Had Congress not acted on the alternative minimum tax, up to 100 million taxpayers would not have been able to file their returns — or collect refunds, if owed — until late March, Steven Miller, the agency’s acting commissioner, said last month. (The AMT itself would hit nearly 30 million filers with higher tax bills, and delay returns for other filers as the IRS adjusted its systems.)

Hopefully, the IRS will set a file date before the end of January.  After the Christmas holidays, there’s a lot of people who went for broke and desperately need that refund money…ASAP.