Advertising Disclosure
  1. Home
  2. Community
  3. Miscellaneous
  4. Tax Season Is Here. Want To File Early?

Tax Season Is Here. Want To File Early?

Kaight
  |     |   1,192 posts since 2011

If you pride yourself on filing your taxes early, and if you wake up the morning of Super Bowl Sunday and still have not filed: shame. You missed early filing by about three weeks! Early filers can file their 2022 taxes beginning on Friday, January 20, 2023.

https://nationaltaxreports.com/when-can-you-file-taxes/

That is later in the same week we celebrate the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, on Monday of that week.

Early filers have their reasons. Perhaps it's because you anticipate a large refund. Perhaps it's because you are filing Form 8888 and want to minimize risk of your I bonds being issued after the May first 2023 rate reset. Perhaps it's something else. Whatever your reason, the really early birds will get going on January twentieth or only shortly thereafter. If you wait to file until after the Super Bowl on February twelfth, it's OK. Just don't claim to be an early filer.

  Post a comment
6


MY2CENTSWORTH
  |     |   440 posts since 2016
My income taxes are pretty much all figured out and I'll likely file electronically on April 18th so they get my $2 check on time! 
Reply
8
greenback
  |     |   55 posts since 2022
@my2centsworth , what a perfect calculation to file "electronically" on the last day and yet send a check "manually" for a minimum due amount of $2 so you get to earn few more cents. It can't get any better! :-))

By the way , most banks send the 1099-INT forms by 31-Jan and few major banks send it even later. Not sure, who are those lucky ones able to file early and get a huge refund !

May be , they just have a W2 and perhaps should have changed the tax withholding before the previous years' Super Bowl !!
Reply
7
CuriousDave
  |     |   233 posts since 2018
It’s not essential to have received Form 1099-INT to file early, assuming no other tax documents are awaited. One can use the YTD interest amounts per the December 31 monthly FI statement as in most cases that will be the same as the 1099-INT amount. If there is a difference the IRS will send a mis-match notice and will refund for the overpayment or ask for the balance due. If the latter, there will be no penalty if payment is made by April 18.
Reply
1
racecar
  |     |   631 posts since 2014
I'm one of those people who would file on midnight Jan 1st if I could. I go to a tax pro, but sadly I have to wait for statements from employers, brokerage houses (the worst: last half of Feb) and the like until I can file -- though I already got my deductions in order, and got everything organized.
Reply
5
lou
  |     |   1,004 posts since 2010
I file as late as I can, which usually means Oct 15th. I would file ever later if there was a way I could do that. Root canal is preferable to doing my taxes. I hate everything about it.
Reply
7
Ltssharon
  |     |   472 posts since 2020
I do all my cooking, cleaning g, lawn work, house painting, investing, etc, but I pay h and r block to do my taxes. I just do not want to risk making the errors. Once I did the taxes myself just to see if it would match what h and r block got. H and r block and I differed bt 20k. We reviewed our forms together and agreed that h and r block had done something incorrectly.
Reply
2
Choice
  |     |   937 posts since 2020
For those filing by paper as well as those requesting Ibond paper issues in connection therewith...don't do it. eFile and you may have a chance of getting paper ibonds
Reply
3
Kaight
  |     |   1,192 posts since 2011
This is only my opinion and there are surely folks out there with a different view. But for Form 8888 aficionados questing after those illusive extra paper I bonds, all US$5k worth, I agree e Filing is the better course. It's the path I follow personally.

I concede paper filers might eventually snag their I bonds. But a key part of the fun is to achieve I bond issuance prior to the May first rate reset. That way you at least know, in advance, the interest rate during your first ownership interval. And your best chance to achieve that goal comes with e Filing and the enhanced processing speed thereby achieved, PROVIDED you make no errors on your return. If you screw up you can all but forget about beating May first, entering instead the post May Day I bond rate reset lottery.
Reply
2
Kaight
  |     |   1,192 posts since 2011
Well tax filing season permeates the air, with early filer wannabees chafing at the bit, knowing their returns will be accepted by the IRS now except that:

Most of us do not yet have sufficient official information from our banks and credit unions to allow filing a safe, error-free return. So:

A tip of the cap and a kind words are in order for financial institutions which made our 1099's available to us prior to next week's deadline. Kudos to you people! As for the laggards and you know the types, financial institutions controlled by people who remained awake all night to study for those exams in the final moments, and who are comfortable awaiting the absolute last gunfire before performing tasks doable earlier: phooey on you people.

I especially love the small number of financial institutions which refuse online access to 1099 outcomes even after the thirty-first, making us wait instead for the Pony Express. Anything whatsoever they can do to delay our tax filing . . . . they do with reckless abandon.

Today I again signed up for FFFF (free file fillable forms). You have to renew each year. Cannot say it went smoothly since I forgot pretty much everything I learned in 2022 and made all the obvious errors once again. But eventually I dummied up and "got 'er done". So now it's just a wait for the aforementioned 1099s along with a few other things which must be absolutely correct if I want my bonds timely, and I do, and if I want to avoid a dreaded 1040-X.

Tax filing season is such fun. There is not a dull moment in this life.
Reply
3
Kaight
  |     |   1,192 posts since 2011
Was able finally today to muster up the courage and filed taxes online using FFFF (Free File Fillable Forms). This means, based on the OP, that my return is sitting beneath a three week high pile of returns from other taxpayers. But I did the very best I could.  Had been working on the return on and off for a couple of weeks . . . . longer actually.

One good outcome pursuant to the above:

I received a same day email notice from the IRS that my return has been accepted. Return acceptance is not a sure thing or a given. I was surprised to pass muster and to be notified so quickly. Now must wait three days before being able to inquire as to refund status. Among the forms they accepted was my Form 8888, so hopes are high for I bond issuance prior to the first of May rate reset. Course you never know for certain until those I bonds commence arriving in the mail.
Reply
4
w00d00w
  |     |   360 posts since 2012
Among the forms they accepted was my Form 8888, so hopes are high for I bond issuance prior to the first of May rate reset.

Has anyone ever heard of someone filing electronically with acceptance before the April deadline, and getting issued paper I Bonds dated May or later?
Reply
1
choice1
  |     |   372 posts since 2023
Kaight, I’m looking forward to the irs rejecting my return…it’s not their option!
Reply
1
JeffinEasternFL
  |     |   744 posts since 2020
1099 B: at least for me typically not issued until 3/15 and often revised again after that, so I do everything around the end of March and e-file on the 13th of April to give me a day or two in case it's ever rejected...Lost: 1/2 a day and a few bux for H&R Block or Turbo Tax software, (I switch every couple years so each company doesn't have all that information cumulative)
Reply
3
GregoryInBelize
  |     |   193 posts since 2022
I am very happy that 2022 will be the last time i have to deal with the IRS.
Reply
1
choice1
  |     |   372 posts since 2023
Was your citizenship status change accepted?
Reply
1
GregoryInBelize
  |     |   193 posts since 2022
Yes, I am no longer a us citizen as of last week. I needed to file a Form 8854 as the last step and pay a Biden exit tax. It was accepted by IRS last week, so I am told by both my CPA and tax attorney 
Reply
1
lou
  |     |   1,004 posts since 2010
Do you live near the beach? Is there anything to do in Belize other than consuming tropical drinks.
Reply
1
GregoryInBelize
  |     |   193 posts since 2022
I live on the water north of San Pedro in Ambergris Caye now. I have been coming here every winter for for last 15+ years. Golfing, deep sea fishing, etc. Similar to living in Florida I would guess, just without all the hustle and bustle. Lots of expats here and the locals and food is awesome. And of course, no shortage of tropical drinks.
Reply
2
Kaight
  |     |   1,192 posts since 2011
Pursuant once again to the OP, I'm now able to post my data point:

I was not able to file as early as I wanted to. Did not finally efile until the thirteenth of February. And of course there was that darn holiday weekend. Got acceptance within a couple of days. Have been checking "where's my refund" every day since. Finally today they are saying my refund has been approved. So that's twelve days since I efiled. I think that's pretty good and I certainly have no complaints.

The IRS, at the same time, acknowledged my I bond purchase choice. This is nice since I have read war stories about people requesting bonds and being sent cash instead. UGH!! The bonds will take a little while to arrive because they are issued by the (former) Bureau of Public Debt and not the IRS.

It'll be interesting to see whether my bonds are dated February or March and it's going to be close. If the former I will earn interest for the entire month of February. Failing that I have only myself to blame for not efiling my return earlier, because I think the IRS did a pretty good, and quick, job with my return.
Reply
3
sams1985
  |     |   781 posts since 2022
Just want to add that this was my first year using turbo tax premier and it was a painless experience. Dare i say i enjoyed it! Way easier than dealing with an incompetent accountant. Highly recommended.
Reply
3
Kaight
  |     |   1,192 posts since 2011
I used FFFF (Free File Fillable Forms) myself. Also painless and a free service offered by the IRS with no outside scrutiny. My taxes are private, between the IRS and me and that's it. Period. I want neither involvement nor assistance from any outside entity. Two's company. Three is a crowd for me when it comes to my taxes. And that is how it always has been.
Reply
2
JeffinEasternFL
  |     |   744 posts since 2020
Just don't do it! Those unexpected SURPRISE 1099-C forms are due to be mailed by 2nd Friday in February and can make for a surprise for you from years gone long by.

My GF got one from what we concluded by a couple phone calls was a mistaken debt in 2011, written off /charged off in 2012 and finally March of this past year "declared" by Synchrony Bank (they seem to be the largest issuer of these forms) and received just last week for tax year 2022. What was $300~ debt supposedly compounded w/ penalties, fees and interest is nearly $5000 a decade later! How bout that!  (Those of us using this board know well about compounding power over time :)


Don't file until March at the earliest! (1099-B forms are notorious for revisions until early April as well-another reason)
Reply
2
Kaight
  |     |   1,192 posts since 2011
Epilogue:

Sometimes you just fall into a buttertub. And I got "took by surprise", too.

Last year they sent me my I bonds as a collection of a wide variety of denominations. It was fun receiving all those I bond certificates, each denomination in its own separate letter.  And they did, indeed, add up to five grand. So yesterday when an I bond letter arrived, just a single letter, I assumed it was the first of a succession of letters I would be receiving in subsequent days.

Nope. Things have changed, at least for me. That one letter contained a single $5000 I bond, unlike anything I received last year. But it got still better.

My I bond was dated February! Must have snuck in, somehow, at the very very end of the month. But of course I will earn interest from the beginning of February. I'm well aware it's only small money. But any level of (albeit undeserved) good fortune is welcome and brings a smile. The takeaway for 2024?

File earlier, avoid drama.

I did work hard this year to file as early as I could. But I can do better if I focus and apply myself next year. And that is what I plan to do. As mentioned in the OP, the IRS opens things up in January for goodness sake. I need to take that more seriously.

It's also worth mentioning that next year, 2024, is a leap year.  So we will have one extra day in February, a Thursday, to achieve I bond issuance timely.  That is a very tiny consideration, but I'll take it!
Reply
3


The financial institution, product, and APY (Annual Percentage Yield) data displayed on this website is gathered from various sources and may not reflect all of the offers available in your region. Although we strive to provide the most accurate data possible, we cannot guarantee its accuracy. The content displayed is for general information purposes only; always verify account details and availability with the financial institution before opening an account. Contact [email protected] to report inaccurate info or to request offers be included in this website. We are not affiliated with the financial institutions included in this website.