Five Reasons to File Your Taxes Early

It has begun! The Internal Revenue Service announced Monday, January 26, 2026, as the opening of the 2026 filing season. Taxpayers have until Wednesday, April 15, 2026, to file their 2025 tax returns and pay any tax due. (Filing a six-month extension will give taxpayers until October 15, 2026, to file their tax returns but remember that an extension does not provide additional time to pay tax due.)

We know that gathering documents and preparing a tax return can be tedious and stressful, leading many to put off getting their tax returns done. Filing early has many benefits though. Here are five of them.

1. Get your refund faster. The IRS expects to process 164 million individual income tax returns for the 2026 filing season and will receive the highest volume of these returns from late March through April 15th. Filing before then increases the likelihood that your refund will be processed faster. If you e-file and opt to get your refund through direct deposit, your refund will arrive even faster.
2. Beat the scammers. Filing your tax return as early as possible is one of the best ways to guard against identity theft. Scammers file fraudulent returns early in the filing season so they can claim and collect a refund before you file. Filing your return early makes this kind of identity theft more difficult.
3. Avoid the rush and reduce stress. CPAs and other tax preparers become increasingly busy as April 15^th approaches. It will become more difficult to make an appointment with your tax preparer as the season progresses, and some preparers charge more to complete  last-minute returns. Meeting with your preparer early gives them more time to prepare and review your return, ask questions, and request additional documents. If you are preparing your own return, you decrease the chances of making errors if you don’t feel pressed for time to finish. Starting early gives you time to locate any missing documents and a slower pace allows you to avoid making errors.
4. Avoid “sticker shock.” If you end up owing taxes, finding out the amount you owe in January or February gives you time to raise the cash needed for payment since you don’t have to pay your taxes until April 15^th. In instances where you owe tax because you didn’t have enough tax withheld from your wages, discovering this in January gives you a head start on correcting current year withholdings. It will help you avoid breaking your budget later in the year because larger amounts of tax have to be withheld.
5. Time to fix errors in tax documents. If you receive an incorrect W-2 or 1099, filing early gives you time to get errors corrected. Likewise, gathering your documents early gives you time to track down any missing ones.

We’ve listed just a few of the many benefits of getting your 2025 tax returns done early. And really, what we hope for you is that you have time to see the wildflowers at Picacho Peak this spring with a light heart because your tax return is filed and done. Come see us (early!) and let us help you navigate the 2026 tax filing season.