When Can You File Your 2012 Tax Return?

You'll have to wait if you are used to filing your annual tax return before the end of January. The Internal Revenue Service has revised its opening date for tax season — pushing it back eight days to Jan. 30. The tax filing deadline is Monday, April 15, 2013.

You can blame the delay to Jan. 30 on the federal "fiscal cliff" crisis and the new tax bill Congress passed just after Dec. 31. There's more information in this Forbes article.

Electronic filing season was originally set to start on Jan. 22 this year.

As a result of the delay, nobody will get a refund in January, an H&R Block official told Financial Advisor.

The IRS will not process paper tax returns before the anticipated Jan. 30 opening date. There is no advantage to filing on paper before the opening date, and taxpayers will receive their tax refunds much faster by using e-file with direct deposit, writes Patch IRS Blogger David Stewart.

There are several forms affected by the late legislation that require more extensive programming and testing of IRS systems. The IRS hopes to begin accepting tax returns including these tax forms between late February and into March; a specific date will be announced in the near future.

The key forms that require more extensive programming changes include Form 5695 (Residential Energy Credits), Form 4562 (Depreciation and Amortization) and Form 3800 (General Business Credit). A full listing of the forms that won’t be accepted until later is available on IRS.gov.

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