January 10, 2022
Tax season is a little just two weeks away.
The IRS announced today that it will begin accepting and processing 2021 taxes on January 24 for individuals returns.
We have seen so many delays over the last few years when it comes to processing and refunds. But the IRS says there are things you can do to ensure your tax return doesn’t get hung up. Here are the three most important.
One – file electronically. We know paper returns usually take weeks and sometimes months longer to process.
Two – if you are owed a refund make sure the IRS has your correct direct deposit information.
Three – make sure your return is accurate. Filing mistakes are easy to make and filing your return quickly, just to get it out of the way, even though it’s inaccurate, is a mistake. Especially if you received a stimulus payment or any of the monthly child tax credit payments. If you received either of those types of payments, you need to either wait for those two letters from the IRS that tell you how much the IRS thinks it paid you or you can go to irs.gov and check your account to see that same information.
The IRS says regardless of when you file your 2021 return if you are owed an earned income tax credit or an additional child tax credit, by law, the IRS cannot issue refunds before mid-February.
For everyone else, the IRS says they they’re anticipating a 21-day turnaround from the time you file to the time you receive your return. Again, if you file a paper return, if your return has errors, or if the IRS doesn’t have your direct deposit info, it’s going to get flagged and will take much longer.
Read the full announcement from the IRS here.
PLUS
If you have health insurance and need to purchase at-home Covid19 tests – the federal government says your insurance company will now be required to reimburse you.
Of course, there are some limitations here and I’ll explain how it all works but first – you may remember this video I did back in early December when the President made this announcement – at the time lots of people were like – how is this going to work. Today – we got our answer.
I’m going to talk about the uninsured in a second, but for those of you who have health insurance….
The order is coming from Health and Human Services and says – starting January 15th – if you have private health insurance or if you’re covered by a group health plan, you can purchase up to eight tests for every individual in your family covered under that insurance per month. Those tests must be over-the-counter Covid19 diagnostic tests that are authorized, cleared, or approved by the FDA. So, a family of four covered under the same insurance can get up to 32 tests per month covered. You don’t need a prescription to buy a test and get it covered and there’s no limit on the number of tests, including at-home tests that are covered if ordered or administered by your doctor or medical clinic. Depending on your insurance you will either have to pick up these tests from certain participating pharmacies where they’d be free at the point of sale or you’ll be able to buy them from anywhere and then submit your receipt, fill out a claim and get reimbursed from your insurance.
Now – if your insurance has a participating pharmacy you need to use to get the free test, and you choose to go out of that network, the government says you will still get up to $12 covered of cost of that test.
Bottom line here – every health insurance company is going to have its own program so if you want to be reimbursed for tests purchased after January 15th, check with your health insurance to see how their program works.
As for those who have state Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance the government has already been requiring your Covid19 testing to be covered without any cost sharing. Medicare pays for Covid19 diagnostic tests performed by labs.
For those of you with *no* health insurance, health and human services says 50 million free at- home tests will be distributed to community health centers and Medicare-certified health clinics for distribution at no cost to you. H-h-s has also established more than 10,000 free community-based pharmacy testing sites around the country.
Read the announcement here.
Read the FAQ here.
