IRS Now Accepting All 2012 Returns for Processing

Posted by Terri Eyden on Mar 4 2013 1721 printer friendly

By Frank Byrt

With six weeks to go before this year's April 15 deadline, the IRS said March 4 it has finished updating all its forms and its tax-processing systems so that all individual and business taxpayers who may have been forced to postpone filing while awaiting revised forms are now able to file their 2012 federal income tax returns.

The IRS said in an e-mailed press release (IR-2013-25) that reprogramming and testing of its systems for tax year 2012 were completed over the weekend of March 2-3, including all remaining updates required by the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) enacted by Congress in January.

"This final step clears the way for those claiming residential energy credits on Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits, and various business tax credits and deductions to file their returns," the IRS reported.

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One month ago, the IRS announced a delay in accepting and processing thirty-one types of subsidiary tax return forms as a result of Congress not having approved tax law changes under the ATRA until January 2. That caused the IRS to push back the opening of the 2013 tax filing season to January 30 so it could make changes to those tax forms and test its return-processing system.

The IRS began accepting 2012 returns in phases as it worked to update various forms and instructions and made critical adjustments to its processing systems to reflect the current law.

"People who need more time to finish their returns can easily get an automatic six-month tax-filing extension by going to the Free File link or filing Form 4868," the IRS said.

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