Today, January 15th, the Internal Revenue Service announced that the 2021 tax season will start on Friday, February 12th. This is the date that the IRS will begin accepting and processing 2020 tax returns.

Why such a late start date this year? The IRS needs extra time to program and test its systems for the tax law changes signed into law on December 27th that provided a second round of Economic Impact Payments and other benefits.

You can still begin filing your returns through IRS Free File partners starting today. However, the returns will not be transmitted to the IRS until February 12th. Learn more about Free File at www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free.

The tax deadline for 2020 returns is April 15, 2021. Of course, you can always file an extension to file your returns by October 15th. However, you still must pay your anticipated 2020 taxes by April 15th.

Although tax seasons frequently begin in late January, there have been five instances since 2007 when filing seasons did not start for some taxpayers until February due to tax law changes made just before the start of tax time.