With the start of tax season officially about two weeks away, the IRS has advice about how to get ready — including details about a free tool that could make filing easier this year.
The 2026 tax season opens on Jan. 26, which is the first day the agency will accept and process individual tax returns for 2025, the agency announced last week. The deadline to file federal returns and pay taxes due is April 15 for most taxpayers.
To prepare, “one of the most important steps” is accessing your IRS online account, where you can make payments and see key tax information, the agency said in a news release.
The reminder comes as the IRS faces tax changes enacted via President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” after staffing cuts from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and other reductions.
These cuts didn’t significantly impact the 2025 filing season because many critical IRS roles were exempt through May 15, 2025, and June 30, 2025, according to a September report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, an independent federal agency.
