The Internal Revenue Service opened the tax filing season today. IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig spoke with reporters and says there are three things you can do to speed up the process.
“File electronically, file accurately, and request a direct deposit of refunds,” he says.
Rettig says it has been tough during the pandemic to process all of the tax returns and the challenges continue. He says that’s why it is important to get everyone to file the most accurate return they can.
“If there’s a problem with their return it can create an extensive delay and IRS notices sent in the mail than then the back and forth between the taxpayer and their representative. And we are trying to avoid that to the extent that we can,” Rettig says.
He says electronic filing is a key to getting your refund quicker. “If they avoid errors when they file, we still anticipate that most people will not experience delays. They will receive their refund within 21 days when they file electronically requesting a direct deposit. And we fully expect the vast majority of folks to receive their refunds in a timely manner,” according to Rettig.
Rettig says there are still issues with calling the IRS for help. “Phone lines have been jammed — our phone lines we anticipate will continue to be jammed up for the foreseeable future…there’s just many, many reasons — but the demand is significantly up. Our folks are working as hard as we can, we’ve automated and made automated changes during the course of the past year to the extent that we can. But we anticipate an extremely high call volume as well going through this filing season,” Rettig says.
He says going online is the best option to get information. “To the extent people can, we are encouraging people to use the various online resources through IRS.gov, that will be the fastest way to get information,” Rettig says.
The federal tax filing deadline is April 18th.