TALLAHASSEE, FL. — Tax filing season officially opened on Monday. But the IRS is warning filers to be ready for delays.
Experts recommend filing early and electronically to get any refunds as fast as possible.
There are several new changes this year, especially when it comes to child tax credit payments and unemployment benefits.
“A lot of Americans receive child tax payments starting in July running through December those need to be reconciled on your 2021 tax return,” said Jessie Cook fromJackson Hewitt tax service.
“If you did not receive any advance payments you will receive the full credit on your 2021 return. The other side is earned income credit. It has been increased this year. There are more Americans eligible to receive this credit the years before. They’ve lowered the minimum age to 19 and they have taken away the maximum cut off age. So our seniors are able to claim income credits on their tax return this year when they haven’t been able to for many of years now.”
Whether you decide to file online or with a tax professional. There are two letters from the IRS that you should be looking out for in the mail.
“One is in regard to the third stimulus and the other is in regard to the advanced child tax payments,” said Cook. “You need to make sure that you bring those documents with you to your tax interview. If we are a dollar off from that it could cause major delays in your tax return this year.”
Cook also says there are two things to make you more likely to get audited. Leaving income off your return and math mistakes.
Floridians can get help filling out a tax return by calling 211 and the deadline to file your federal taxes is April 18th.
