Issue Number: 2014-1 Tax Season Opens As Planned Following Extenders Legislation Following the passage of the extenders legislation, the Internal Revenue Service announced today it anticipates opening the 2015 filing season as scheduled in January. The IRS will begin accepting tax returns electronically on Jan. 20. Paper tax returns will begin processing at the same time. The decision follows Congress renewing a number of "extender" provisions of the tax law that expired at the end of 2013. These provisions were renewed by Congress through the end of 2014. The final legislation was signed into law Dec 19, 2014. "We have reviewed the late tax law changes and determined there was nothing preventing us from continuing our updating and testing of our systems," IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. "Our employees will continue an aggressive schedule of testing and preparation of our systems during the next month to complete the final stages needed for the 2015 tax season." The IRS reminds taxpayers that filing electronically is the most accurate way to file a tax return and the fastest way to get a refund. There is no advantage to people filing tax returns on paper in early January instead of waiting for e-file to begin. More information about IRS Free File and other information about the 2015 filing season will be available in January. Thank you for subscribing to FILING SEASON ALERT an IRS e-mail service. If you have a specific concern about your client's tax situation, call the IRS Practitioner Priority Service 1-866-860-4259. This message was distributed automatically from the mailing list e-News for Tax Professionals. Please Do Not Reply To This Message To subscribe to or unsubscribe from another list, please go to the e-News Subscriptions page on the IRS Web site.