Are You Ready? Dates and Details for 2025 Tax Filing Season

2025 Tax Filing SeasonIt is a new year and new tax season. It officially opened on January 27, 2025, and so here is some information to keep in mind as you start putting together your documents:

Digital, digital, digital

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continues to drive tax traffic online and reduce hard-copy processing of tax returns. The IRS is promoting IRS Online accounts for taxpayers. With an online account, users can look up details from their most recent return, request transcripts, and review or make payments. Taxpayers can also set up payment plans or execute important forms, authorizations, and powers of attorney.

 

Consider an Identity Protection Pin

The ways in which bad actors can steal personal data are now rampant. Tax fraud during filing season can take the form of hackers who impersonate a taxpayer, file a fake return, and claim their refund. 

 

As we discussed recently, the Change Healthcare data breach put the protected health information, financial, and other personal information of more than 100 million taxpayers in play for wannabe identity thieves. One way you can reduce your chances of losing your refund and having to undo the filing of a fraudulent tax return is to apply for an Identity Protection Pin (IP PIN). The six-digit number changes annually and protects your tax identity from someone who may have purchased your compromised social security number and other information online.

 

Digital redux

Digital assets are only going to grow more ubiquitous. For the IRS, a digital asset is not considered currency, but property.  The definition of a digital asset includes; “a digital asset is stored electronically and can be bought, sold, owned, transferred, or traded. The tax definition of a digital asset is any digital representation of value recorded on a cryptographically secured, distributed ledger (blockchain) or similar technology.” Once again this year, taxpayers should expect to respond to a question on their return about whether they received, sold, or disposed of a digital asset, or interest in a digital asset during the tax year.

 

Be strategic about your return

Collect and organize your tax documents now. This may include legal and tax documents statements, wage and other forms, and many other types of records. Develop a record system and stick to it. The sooner you file the sooner any expected refund may arrive. The IRS tells taxpayers that refunds are usually generated within 21 days, but do not count on it for a big purchase or bill pay-off. Rushed preparation of tax returns, errors, and missing information or documents can slow the speed of your refund—and subject you to a potential IRS audit if your return is flagged for some reason.

 

Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)

And don’t forget—your Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) identifying offshore tax and foreign bank account holdings is due on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. The FBAR is not part of your income tax return, but is due at the same time. Good news though—if you miss the April deadline, you are granted an automatic extension to October 15, 2025.

 

Tax season has arrived as it always does. And each year it is a little different. There is more to know, more helpful tools to speed the filing of your return—and plenty of bad actors ready to help themselves to your refund through identity theft or tax preparer fraud. If you have concerns about questionable tax activities in which you have engaged—be sure to speak with an experienced tax attorney before you file.

 

Have questions about a criminal tax charge or tax controversy? Our tax attorneys can help

Serving taxpayers at home or abroad, the legal group of Robert J. Fedor Esq., LLC provide trusted representation on criminal tax defense, offshore tax investments, and compliance matters. Call us at 440-250-9709 or contact us online.

 

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