DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — It is time to break out those W2’s, because the 2023 tax season is officially underway.
There are some changes this year; many of the pandemic-era tax benefits are no longer in effect. Mark Steber, the Chief Tax Information Officer for Jackson-Hewitt, said people might be surprised by their refunds.
Americans will not be getting that extra bump from stimulus checks, the child tax credit is back down to pre-pandemic amount, and the special tax break on charitable donations is also gone.
“If you enjoyed some of the child tax credit or dependent care credit or earned income credit, or any of multiples of those last year, you could see a smaller refund if nothing else changed in your tax return this year,” Steber explained.
There is some good news, though. Steber said the standard deduction increased this year.
“Most people will take the standard deduction, and if you had that, then it will go up for 2022. And that’s a nice benefit to watch out for,” Steber said.
Steber also warned about the problems with the IRS. The Internal Revenue Service is still trying to work through customer service issues and backlogs of past returns. Because of this, Steber said it is important to get everything filed early and electronically.
“That’s not simply doing your taxes on a computer and then mailing it in through the post office, it’s actually sending it in free for most companies to the IRS. It’s faster, it’s safer. You get immediate notice, they’ve got it and they start processing it. They don’t wait for weeks to open the mail,” Steber said.
The deadline to file taxes is April 18, 2023. To learn more about the Earned Income Tax Credit, click here.
