The official start is Tuesday, January 19. That’s the first day on which you’ll be able to file your federal income tax returns and documents. The Internal Revenue Service says it expects more than 150 million returns in 2016. Approximately 4 out of 5 returns will be prepared electronically, the IRS says.
An Ohio tax preparer said in a recent newspaper interview that his job is to get tax forms “done as quickly and correctly as possible.” After all, many people are eager to get their refunds.
Of course, that eagerness for money back from the federal government should be tempered with a desire to get the facts and figures laid out correctly, the preparer cautions. He said people who hurry through the forms might miss “very easy deductions” or credits that could cost them thousands of dollars.
Even worse than missing a deduction could be the penalties in store for some people who err on the other side of the ledger. They overstate or misstate deductions, income or receipts and get overly generous refunds or fail to pay owed taxes.
When the IRS catches the error, they will have to return any refund which they were not entitled to and pay taxes owed (with possible penalties and interest tacked on). In some cases, criminal charges will be filed against the person for filing a false return. That can happen even when the errors were inadvertent and even when there was no malicious intent.
In those situations, most people turn for help to a law firm with record of getting favorable results for clients in negotiations with the IRS and in court.