Tax Season Under Way

Most taxpayers can file now if ready

By Kaye A. Thomas
Posted January 14, 2008

Question: name the four seasons. Answer: baseball, football, basketball and tax.

The 2008 income tax return filing season officially got under way January 11 with an IRS announcement that they are now ready to accept electronically filed tax returns. If you have a refund coming and you're lucky enough to have all the documents needed to file your return, chances are you can go ahead and file. However, the IRS won't be ready to accept returns that include certain forms until February 11 because of reprogramming required by legislation passed late in 2007.

Who's affected

Many news reports have said, misleadingly, that taxpayers can't file "AMT-related" tax returns until the later date. In reality, the IRS is accepting returns on which taxpayers owe AMT or claim AMT credit. That's important because many people will be filing for large refunds this year based on the new refundable AMT credit. There is no need to delay these returns until February 11 unless they also include one of the forms listed below.

The affected forms are used to claim certain credits that would have been affected by the AMT if Congress had not passed this law:

Form 8863, Education Credits
Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits
Schedule 2 (Form 1040A), Child and Dependent Care Expenses for Form 1040A Filers
Form 8396, Mortgage Interest Credit
Form 8859, District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyer Credit

For some reason, Form 2441, used to claim the credit for child and dependent care expenses when filing Form 1040, is not on the list, even though Schedule 2 (Form 1040A) is listed. It appears that anyone affected by the third item listed above can file Form 1040 instead of Form 1040A. The amount of tax you pay using Form 1040 is the same as when you use Form 1040A, although some tax return preparers or services may charge different fees for the different forms.

Free filing available

If your adjusted gross income for 2007 was $54,000 or less you can file your federal income tax return using the Free File program. This service is available only through the IRS Free File portal. Some of the ugliest aspects of the Free File program as it was offered in the past have been eliminated, and while some serious problems remain, it's a reasonable alternative for people with relatively simple returns and income within the limitation. A later report will address the Free File program.