Hunker Down Its Tax Season!

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IRS begins sending balance due notices again.

Tax Season 2025 Has Begun

It’s Tax Season! The IRS started accepting tax returns on Jan. 27, 2025. Within the first week of filing, over 25% of the 11.7 million returns processed resulted in direct deposit refunds. By the April 15 federal deadline, the agency expects to receive over 140 million individual returns. Here’s a quick guide to navigating the 2025 tax filing season:

Check your tax return’s status

If you’re about to file, or have already done so, you can track the progress of your return for tax year 2024 online. The IRS has a dedicated Where’s My Refund page that will show the status of your tax return by around 24 hours after you file electronically.

To check your refund’s status, you’ll need to know the “exact whole dollar refund amount shown on your tax return,” the IRS says, so make sure you have that on hand.

The tracking tool helps you follow your return through three main phases: when your return has been received (and is being processed); when your refund is approved (and the expected date of its issue); and confirmation that the refund has been sent.

Your refund should come within three weeks

The IRS says most refunds will be issued within 21 days of your filing date. As in recent years, the IRS recommends filing electronically and using direct deposit to get refunds more quickly.

But if you filed early and are looking for refunds related to two situations — the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit — you might have to wait a bit longer. That’s because the IRS can only issue those refunds after mid-February, under a requirement in the PATH Act of 2015.

Millions more people can file for free online

A phone user looks at information about the IRS Direct File program at the IRS building in Washington, D.C., last April. The free tax return service has now grown to 25 states.

The free Direct File system has expanded since last year’s 12-state pilot program, growing to 25 participating states this year. It’s aimed at people with relatively straightforward tax returns.Direct File is available in several big states, such as New York, Texas, Florida and California. But filers in other states and the District of Columbia are out of luck (although all 50 states were invited to participate). There are also limits on the types and amount of income you can report. Direct File can’t handle gig work or rental income, for instance. And wages for a single filer can’t be more than $200,000. You can check your eligibility here.

The IRS faces changes

The IRS got long-awaited relief in 2022, in the form of $80 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, along with its regular appropriations. The money followed years of reports that the agency was underfunded and understaffed; among other things, it was meant to help the agency update its computer systems, boost customer service and improve tax enforcement.

A 2021 study found the U.S. government misses out on around $600 billion in unpaid taxes each year. The IRS had also been reporting long telephone wait times and a growing backlog of unprocessed returns.

But Congress has clawed back some $40 billion of IRS funding — first in a budget deal in 2023, and again in December.

 

🗂️ You can track the progress of your tax return on the IRS’ dedicated Where’s My Refund page, which will show the status around 24 hours after you file electronically.
🗂️ Most refunds are issued within 21 days of your filing date. Refunds related to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit are expected after mid-February.
🗂️ The free Direct File system has expanded to 25 participating states this year, up from last year’s 12-state pilot program. It’s aimed at people with relatively straightforward tax returns.

Check out more information about filing your taxes here.