The IRS has started accepting 2023 federal income tax returns.
And this morning we're joined by Rafael Tulino with the
IRS to talk about some of the things people really
need to be aware of this year.
Good morning. Good morning, Deidre.
Thanks for having me. Absolutely.
So what would you say is the number one thing
that people really need to pay attention to right now?
Well, and we started processing this week a couple days
ago,
but I guess the bottom line would be this I
suppose is a gather and get it together in in
steps that we don't overwhelm any anybody.
For example, if you're getting into your tax professional,
maybe do it in an organized manner,
that kind of thing. But certainly doing it in steps
and considering how are you going to prepare it.
A lot of folks choose a tax professional and a
lot of folks self prepare and get to a computer
and hit enter using tax software,
be it off the shelf or otherwise,
but certainly anything electronic. Is much easier than paper.
No question about it. It is.
Although it's funny sometimes it's easy to miss one because
you forgot to go in online to find that particular
form,
which is, you know, now available for you,
right? But the tax software holds your hand all the
way through it.
And if you have all your paperwork up in front
of you,
and you're gathered and organized and you're following along with
what the software provides,
you should be pretty good in terms of making sure
you get every benefit you deserve and need.
And that being said, you should file when ready.
So even though we're in the last couple days of
January here.
As we approach February and beyond,
you may not have all your paperwork,
so file when ready. Certainly take advantage of any and
all benefits that are available to you that you're eligible
for legally of course.
But yeah, don't you don't want to file a return
out of haste or miss something like you say.
So certainly take some extra time and double check those
things for sure.
So what tools does the IRS providing this year that
maybe will help people?
Well, there's free services, free file.
IRS Gov has all that information.
There's free in the community through our volunteer Income Tax
Assistance and Vita for short and TC,
which is tax counseling for the elderly.
AARP is the biggest partner there.
And certainly those are up and running in physical sites
all around Sacramento and that whole area around California,
around the country really. So you can find one of
those that's for moderate lower income taxpayers,
get free services, that kind of thing.
But certainly the website irs.gov is available.
We've got some funding from Congress through the law that
passed last year that allows us to be better in
answering phones and providing service and offices and that kind
of thing. So you should be able to see it
better than it has been the last few years because.
Of the lack of resources and the personnel,
but certainly IRS Gov First,
for anything you need related taxes this year.
No question about that. All right,
real quick, you have 15 seconds to make your plea
to for people to not do this at the last
minute.
Take you take your time.
Procrastination sometimes leads to missing out on something,
so take that, take your time,
get that refund, choose direct deposit,
three weeks or less for most.
And thanks so much for having me this morning.
Absolutely. Thanks for joining us today.
We appreciate it.