The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that tax season will open on Monday, January 27, 2020. The IRS will begin accepting paper and electronic tax returns that day.

The due date for 2019 federal income tax returns is April 15, 2020, for most individual taxpayers. The IRS expects to process more than 150 million individual tax returns, with most of the returns filed before the April due date.

“As we enter the filing season, taxpayers should know that the dedicated workforce of the IRS stands ready to help,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “We encourage taxpayers to plan ahead and use the tools and information available on IRS.gov. The IRS and the nation’s tax community are committed to making this another smooth filing season.”

Many tax software companies and tax professionals will accept tax returns before January 27, 2020. That does not mean that your tax return will be filed early. Software companies and tax professionals will submit returns when the IRS systems open. The same applies to the IRS Free File program.