It is never too early to start thinking about and preparing for tax filing season. Every year, changes are made to Arizona’s tax code. Since April 15 2022 falls on a federal holiday, taxpayers have until Monday, April 18, 2022, to file their 2021 tax return. If filing an extension, the extended due date to file the income tax return is October 15, 2022. However, because October 15, 2022 falls on a Saturday, taxpayers have until Monday, October 17, 2022 to timely file their 2021 tax return.
Important Federal Dates
• January 18, 2022 – 2021 fourth quarter estimated tax payments due.
• January 24, 2022 – Individual 2021 tax returns begin being accepted and processing begins for IRS.
• April 18, 2022 – Due date to file 2021 tax return, request an extension, and pay tax owed.
• October 17, 2022 – Due date to file for those requesting an extension on their 2021 tax returns.
Processing of Previous Tax Returns
IRS employees continue to resolve critical areas affected by the pandemic, including processing of tax returns from last year and record levels of phone calls coming in.
“In many areas, we are unable to deliver the amount of service and enforcement that our taxpayers and tax system deserves and needs. This is frustrating for taxpayers, for IRS employees and for me,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said. “IRS employees want to do more, and we will continue in 2022 to do everything possible with the resources available to us. And we will continue to look for ways to improve. We want to deliver as much as possible while also protecting the health and safety of our employees and taxpayers. Additional resources are essential to helping our employees do more in 2022 – and beyond.”
The IRS continues to reduce the inventory of prior-year individual tax returns that have not been fully processed. As of December 3, 2021, the IRS has processed nearly 169 million tax returns. All paper and electronic individual 2020 refund returns received prior to April 2021 have been processed if the return had no errors or did not require further review.
Taxpayers generally will not need to wait for their 2020 return to be fully processed to file their 2021 tax returns and can file when they are ready.