While every tax season leaves many a smart person feeling anything but, this year has been a particularly confusing one — as of March 2023, there was still a pandemic-related backlog of more than 2.17 million unprocessed returns while many of the credits and deductions brought in during the pandemic have finally expired.
Because of that, the average refund is expected to be $326 less than it was in 2022.
DON'T MISS: 'Tax Hack' Making The Rounds On Social Media Can Earn You a Huge Fine
In 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has also extended the April 18 deadline for a number of people — amid a series of winter storms that hit both coasts in January 2023, the government agency had earlier extended the deadline for a number of California, Georgia and Alabama counties.
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Here's How You Check if the Tax Extension Applies to You
Later tornadoes, storms and natural disasters prompted similar extensions for residents of certain counties in Mississippi, New York and, as of April 3, Arkansas.
Residents of Cross, Lonoke and Pulaski counties have recently been added to those who have until July 31 to file their personal and business returns as well as make any payments they may owe.
"The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on March 31, 2023," the agency said in a statement. "As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until July 31, 2023, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period."
To qualify for the extension, one needs to live in an area designated a disaster area by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — the full list of qualifying states and counties can be found here.
IRS Is Also Sounding the Alarm on These Common Tax Scams
In some parts of Georgia, Alabama and California, the damage was so extensive that the IRS is giving residents until Oct. 16 to file their return. This includes counties like Alameda and Marin in California as well as Jasper and Meriwether in Georgia.
Regardless of whether one is affected by the disasters, all filers are able to extend their deadline on the IRS website — one can also check the date of the extension for one's county on the IRS.gov website.
The one caveat is that those who file their return after April 18 for disaster-related reasons will need to mail it rather than submitting electronically.
As it announces new areas allowed an extension, the IRS is also warning tax filers about a number of scams and incorrect or even illegal advice circulating on the internet.
As part of its annual "Dirty Dozen" tax scam line-up, the IRS named everything from fraudsters telling people to fill out the "secret" Form 8944 for economic hardship (in reality, this form can only be used by accountants and other tax professionals) and filling out a W-2 form with an inflated balance to get a larger tax refund.
"The IRS continues to see a lot of inaccurate information that could get well-meaning taxpayers in trouble," IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. "People should remember that there is no secret way to fill out a form and simply get a larger refund that they aren't entitled to."
Another scam involves someone offering "help" to people confused by the tax system creating an online account on IRS.gov, which most people with an email can do on their own, in order to "obtain valuable and sensitive tax information."
