When is the earliest date you can file your taxes

However, while your returns may be accepted as early as the last week of January, you can't file until you've received the necessary tax documents to complete your returns. These could include:. There may also be other forms as well, depending upon your specific tax situation. Many of them must be mailed to you by January As a result, you may not be ready to file your forms until February at the earliest if you're still waiting for your paperwork -- even if the IRS begins accepting returns sooner.

If you have the information that you need, there are plenty of good reasons to file your taxes as soon as the IRS starts accepting returns at the end of January. Filing early allows you to get your hands on a refund ASAP. It could also help protect your identity.

Submitting your forms right away means that if a scammer tries to file a phony return with your information, it will be rejected since your real one will have already been processed. For , there may also be another reason to file early.

However, some who were eligible didn't get them because the IRS used or tax data to determine eligibility. The IRS may not have had your information if you didn't file a return in either of these two years. Or your past returns may have shown your income was too high to get a payment -- even if you're now earning less and have become eligible for one.

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