(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – A sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, on May 4, 2021.
Effective immediately, the Internal Revenue Service will end its decades-old policy of making unannounced home and business visits — in a nod to worker safety and combatting scammers who pose as IRS agents. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Washington D.C.) The IRS opened the 2026 filing season today and started accepting and processing federal individual income tax returns for the tax year of 2025. The IRS is expecting about 164 million individual tax returns for the 2025 tax year to be filed ahead of the federal deadline of Wednesday, April 15th, 2026. IRS.gov is where taxpayers in Pennsylvania and beyond can find a range of filing options and tools to assist them in filing and preparing their tax returns. According to a release in Washington D.C. from the IRS, here is some more information about filing your taxes this year:

Get help preparing and filing electronically

• Filing electronically and choosing direct deposit remains the fastest way to receive a refund.
• IRS Free File, which you can access by clicking here, offers eligible taxpayers brand-name tax preparation software at no cost.
• Free File Fillable Forms, which you can access by clicking here, are available to taxpayers who are comfortable preparing and filing their own returns, regardless of income level.
• Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs, which you can access by clicking here, offer free basic tax return preparation to qualified individuals.
• More than half of taxpayers use a tax professional to prepare and file their tax returns. The IRS encourages taxpayers to review tips for choosing a tax preparer and learn how to avoid unethical “ghost” return preparers, which you can find out about by clicking here.

Most refunds are issued within 21 days.

• Direct deposit is the fastest way to receive a refund. Additionally, in accordance with Executive Order 14247, which you can find out about by clicking here, the IRS began phasing out paper tax refund checks on September 30th, 2025, meaning most taxpayers must provide their routing and account numbers to receive refunds directly deposited into their bank accounts.
• Taxpayers can track refund status using Where’s My Refund? by clicking here, the IRS2Go app by clicking here, or their IRS Individual Online Account by clicking here.
• While the IRS issues most refunds in fewer than 21 days, some returns require additional review and may take longer.

EITC and ACTC refunds available by March 2nd

• The IRS expects most refunds for the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit to be available in bank accounts or on debit cards by March 2nd, 2026, for taxpayers who chose direct deposit and have no other issues with their returns. Some taxpayers may receive their refund earlier, depending on their financial institution. Where’s My Refund? will provide projected deposit dates for most early EITC/ACTC refund filers by February 21st, 2026.
• For more information and tools to help file a complete and accurate return, which you can find by clicking here and avoid errors that can delay refunds, visit IRS.gov.