IRS refunds will be faster: Here’s how it will work
Millions of taxpayers may be getting their refunds much faster in the near future as the Internal Revenue Service amps up efforts to digitize tax returns.
The Internal Revenue Service has launched a campaign to digitize all tax returns that are filed on paper by 2025. When this is done, taxpayers are expected to receive their refunds up to four weeks earlier, while the time to process returns is projected to be cut in half.
Many taxpayers already file their returns electronically, but there are those who still mail in paper returns, which the IRS has had difficulty in digitally processing. Aside from this, the IRS has been unable to provide many of its forms online. This, however, will change next year.
IRS: The paperless processing initiative
The agency’s effort, called the paperless processing initiative, will give taxpayers the option to go paperless for IRS correspondence by the 2024 filing season, including responses to notices.
Many of the most commonly used non-tax forms will be available in digital, mobile-friendly formats, facilitating the ease of submission. One of these forms is the Request for Taxpayer Advocate Service Assistance, which will make it easier for taxpayers to get help for their concerns.
People will also have the option of filing 20 additional tax forms electronically, which means that up to four million more tax documents will be filed online each year.
IRS: Paperless tax returns by 2025
After this stage of digitization, the agency is targeting paperless processing for all tax returns by the 2025 filing season, which could affect up to 76 million returns and forms. Once the paper returns are digitized, errors from manually inputting data will be eliminated, and data will be more easily extracted. This will result in faster processing times, with the end result of people getting their refunds more rapidly.
The initiative aims to eliminate up to 200 million pieces of paper per year. The IRS also intends to digitize up to one billion historical documents to save $40 million a year in paper storage costs.