IRS announces start date for 2025 tax-filing season: What you need to know

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced that Monday, January 27, 2025, will mark the start of the 2025 tax filing season.

The IRS is encouraging citizens to use one of the agency’s filing tools as more than 140 million tax returns for the 2024 tax year are anticipated to be filed before the federal deadline of Tuesday, April 15.

The IRS has improved the filing process to help taxpayers, even though it is anticipated that over half of this year’s tax returns would be submitted with the assistance of a tax expert.

The IRS said it has improved since last year’s tax season, including increased alerts for tax-related scams and schemes, expanded features on the agency’s Individual Online Account, improved access to tax account information through text and voice virtual assistants, and more access to tax forms via smartphones and tablets.

Alongside these developments, the IRS announced that the Direct File program will be expanded and made available in 25 states on January 27. On Friday, IRS partners released TheIRS Free File Guided Tax Software, which offers free software tools to millions of U.S. taxpayers.

According to IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, the IRS has undergone a historic period of improvement and will be introducing new tools and features to assist taxpayers this tax season. While the adjustments we have made thus far that are focused on the taxpayer are significant, the IRS still has more work to do. By continuing to invest in the country’s tax system, more can be accomplished.

Importantly, the IRS is already issuing a new batch of stimulus payments totaling $2.4 billion to almost 1 million Americans. If a taxpayer did not claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax return, they may be entitled for the automatic payment.

Direct File

On January 27, eligible taxpayers in 25 states—including New York and New Jersey—will have access to Direct File. According to Treasury estimates, 30 million taxpayers in these states are eligible.

A web-based tool called Direct File walks users through a series of questions to help them prepare their federal tax return in detail. When these filers are finished, Direct File directs them to state resources so they can finish their state tax returns.

Direct File will enable taxpayers to choose to automatically import data from their IRS account, such as IP PIN, personal information, and certain information from the filer’s W-2, in an attempt to speed up the tax filing process.

Only taxpayers claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and Credit for Other Dependents were covered via Direct File during the 2024 experiment. But this year, Direct File will also help taxpayers who are claiming the Retirement Savings Contribution Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Credit, the Premium Tax Credit, and the Credit for the Elderly and Disabled.

The Direct File will assist taxpayers who are claiming deductions for Health Savings Accounts in addition to those who are claiming the standard deduction, student loan interest deductions, and educator expenses deductions.

Free File

IRS Free File, which offers free tax preparation software from eight businesses in the public-private partnership between the IRS and Free File Inc., allowed nearly everyone to file online for free as of Friday.

These partners will offer online guided tax software programs for taxpayers with an Adjusted Gross Income of $84,000 or less in 2024 for the 2025 tax season.

Despite the fact that the tax season has not yet officially started, IRS Free File providers will enable taxpayers to prepare and submit their forms in advance and keep them until the season begins so they can be electronically filed.

In order to prepare for tax season, taxpayers can get a head start on the filing process by visiting IRS.gov’s Get Ready page.