IRS Commissioner John Koskinen stated "We want people to be aware of the change for their planning purposes during the holidays. We don't want anyone caught by surprise if they get their refund a few weeks later than in previous years."
IRS says they will begin accepting and processing tax returns once the filing season begins and recommends that taxpayers should file as usual. Tax return preparers should submit returns as they normally do. Even though the IRS cannot issue refunds for some early filers until at least Feb. 15, the IRS reminds taxpayers that most refunds will be issued within the normal timeframe: less than 21 days, after being accepted for processing by the IRS. The Where's My Refund? tool on IRS.gov and the IRS2Go phone app remains the best way to get this status of a refund.
This notice was provided as part of IR-2016-152.