The IRS has announced that it will start accepting returns on Jan. 24th. I see nothing on the CT DOR website and they haven’t emailed me an update. None of the tax software is ready to go yet. Hopefully, everything else will also be in place when the IRS is ready on the 24th.
What the IRS isn’t ready for is to actually handle the returns that are filed. As long as your return can slide through the automated process, everything will be fine – plan to pay electronically and to receive refunds electronically. Anything paper – anything at all that pulls a return out of the automated process – is going to be a problem. We’ve been warned of that.
Lest you think I jest, the IRS still hasn’t resolved problems from the 2019 filing season – returns filed during COVID Season #1. In addition, it’s nearly impossible to get a phone call through. Wait times are routinely in excess of 45 minutes – then you think they are answering but the line goes dead.
There’s at least one company that has made a business out of running a dialing service that just endlessly robo-dials the IRS then sitting on hold. The moment the line is answered, they pass that line to someone who is paying them upwards of $100 a month for the service. The IRS has been told to add people to provide the necessary customer service. I’m not sure where we are with that because Omicron moved in so now half the labor force is home with COVID.
Other tax preparers who work with the IRS repeatedly post that the IRS has hundreds of thousands of pieces of unopened mail.
