Looks like Americans will be able to start filing January 24th which is great for your SE borrowers you need to get a tax return rolling on and likely deadline of April 18th unless they extend again.

Expect a rather large backlog and likely extended turn times.

The IRS stated that the BEST and IDEAL way to file is electronic and with direct deposit. If not, then prepare to wait.

The IRS is dealing with backups from the last 2 years. Typically, the IRS has about 1 million pieces of unopened mail which includes tax returns of backlog when starting a new tax season. As of 12/23 they had a backlog of 6 million unprocessed individual returns.

Within the first couple months of the year over 150 million tax returns will roll in.

With budget cuts, back logs, people out sick and a plethora of Republicans blaming Democrats and vice versa the IRS is a hot mess.

About 10% of all returns are paper returns which is about 15 million on top of the 6 million backlog make sure you advise people to EFILE and DIRECT DEPOSIT.

In addition, make sure they know to use the IRS website and not expect a call or to get through on the phone lines. They are way down on employees and a huge backlog.

The other issue is with soon to be 21 million paper returns the child tax credits and stimulus checks for families with kids and others got Jun – Dec is causing a lot more returns to be filed for those who typically do not file due to low income so a lot of mis-understanding and uncertainty will plague many who are not sure about filing.