The Internal Revenue Service is reminding you that legislation passed by Congress last month will affect some early tax return filers this month. IRS spokesman Christopher Miller says it will mean a delay in refund checks for a large group of people — more than 13-million nationwide.
He says the delay is due to the Alternative Minimum Tax, or AMT, legislation which was enacted in December. The delays will only be experienced by those who use five credit forms in their returns. Miller says those forms relate to education, residential energy, child and dependent care expenses, mortgage interest, and something for first-time homebuyers in Washington D.C.
Miller says if you’re filing using one of those forms, you won’t be able to send your return to the IRS for a few weeks, until February 11th, as the computers are being reset to compute the changes. Miller says it’s always a good idea to get a jump on your tax return, regardless of whether or not you will have to wait until mid-February to file. He says it’s not unusual for Congress to pass a law that affects how people file their taxes, though it’s usually not so late in the year.
He says: "We certainly have tried to do all that we can to minimize any impact on taxpayers. It’s just that we have to react when legislation comes down and that’s what we’re attempting to work with as best we can." Miller encourages people to use the e-file system, saying it’s much quicker than traditional paper filing. For more information on the AMT changes or e-filing, visit the IRS website .