After announcing the start of business electronic filing on a Friday, the IRS came back from the weekend on Monday to give taxpayers the date when individual returns will be accepted.[1] However, while the announcements may have come only three days apart, the actual starting dates are much further apart.

While business returns will be accepted by the IRS on January 7,[2] the agency will not begin accepting individual returns until January 27, 2020.[3]

The IRS has posted on their website that the agency will begin accepting electronically filed business returns on Tuesday, January 7, 2020.[1]  CPAs will need to watch their tax software to determine when their vendor has updated their software to be able to handle the filings.

The site still lists the beginning date for individual returns as to be determined early in 2020. Very likely the problem for individual returns involves modifications that will need to be taken into account due to the law changes made by Congress late in 2019.

In News Release IR-2019-01 the IRS announced that it will begin processing tax returns this year on January 28, 2019 and, despite the partial government shutdown, will issue refunds that may be due on returns filed this year.

The release notes:

As in past years, the IRS will begin accepting and processing individual tax returns once the filing season begins. For taxpayers who usually file early in the year and have all of the needed documentation, there is no need to wait to file. They should file when they are ready to submit a complete and accurate tax return.

In the case of Levi v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2015-118 the question before the court was, effectively, whether the Levis had filed a valid return.  The issue arose because the return had been signed by an attorney retained by the couple to prepare their tax return.