ATLANTA — With all of the changes this tax season, is filing early more important than ever?
Let’s Verify.
Sources
Answer
Yes, it is a good idea to file your return earlier than later, but not before you have all the information you need to file a complete return.
What we found
Breaks like the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit are returning to pre-pandemic levels, so the average refund will be smaller this year.
Steber said anyone who is getting a refund will get it faster the earlier they file.
Plus, he said it's a good way to avoid identity thieves.
“We know those pesky data thieves out there use breaches and other ways on the dark web to get your data,” Steber said. “Many will try to file an early tax return and swoop around you and steal your tax refund. If you file early, you get your money early.”
However, you don’t want to rush.
Poulos explained filing before you get all of the pertinent documentation is a problem.
“If you file a return that’s not complete and accurate, meaning there’s missing information, then you’re going to get a notice from the IRS in three, six, nine months and you’ll have to clean up that mess,” he said.
Employers and businesses should have mailed documents to you. The deadline for them to do that was Jan. 31.
“If you didn’t get your W-2 or 1099 that doesn’t mean it’s not taxable,” Steber said. “You’ll need to take some action because you’ll need that information to file a complete and accurate tax return.”
Thankfully, the IRS hired thousands of new employees to help taxpayers through the process.
“Hopefully this will be a much smoother filing season because the last two years there have been situations where some taxpayers, it was close to a year before their returns got processed,” Polous added.
So we can Verify, it’s true, it is a good idea to file your return earlier than later, but not before you have all the information you need to file a complete return.