IRS announces start of tax season – what to know

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Friday announced details for the start of the 2025 tax filing season, which will begin in earnest later this month.

Tax filing season will open on Monday, Jan. 27 for taxpayers submitting their tax returns for tax year 2024. The IRS said it expects more than 140 million individual tax returns by the federal deadline for filing returns for tax year 2024, which will be Tuesday, April 15.

The agency added that with about half of all returns expected to be filed with the help of a tax professional, taxpayers should use a trusted tax pro to avoid potential scams and schemes.

This tax filing season will also see new tools available to taxpayers amid the IRS' modernization efforts. Among the improvements include more access to tax account information from text and voice virtual assistants, expanded features on the IRS individual online account, more access to dozens of tax forms for cell phone and tablet users, plus expanded alerts for scams and schemes targeting taxpayers.

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The IRS announced the 2025 tax filing season for tax year 2024 returns will open on Jan. 27. (Michael Bocchieri/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The IRS has also expanded the Direct File program from last year, which will be available to taxpayers in 25 states when the tax season officially begins later this month, after the program was used by 12 states as part of last year's pilot program.

Direct File is similar to commercial tax software and allows taxpayers to opt in to a data import tool to automatically import information from their IRS