The start of the 2011 filing season will begin in January for the majority of taxpayers. However, last week's changes in the law mean that the IRS will need to reprogram its processing systems for three provisions that were extended in the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 that became law on Dec. 17.

People claiming any of these three items involving the state and local sales tax deduction, higher education tuition, and fees deduction for educator expenses deduction as well as those taxpayers who itemize deductions on Form 1040 Schedule A will need to wait to file their tax returns until tax processing systems are ready, which the IRS estimates will be in mid- to late February.

We will keep you posted as changes take effect and you will be able to file your returns.   

Taxpayers will need to wait to file if they are within any of the following three categories:

• Taxpayers claiming itemized deductions on

Itemized deductions on Schedule A:
This includes those taxpayers who deduct mortgage interest, charitable deductions, medical and dental expenses as well as state and local income tax. 

Higher Education Tuition and Fees Deduction:
This deduction is for parents and students covering up to $4,000 of tuition and fees paid to a post-secondary institution and

• who will be filing form 8917.  Other education credits, including the American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit are not affected in this delay.
• Taxpayers who will be claiming the Educator Expense Deduction entered on Line 23 of form 1040 will also be affected by the delay.  This deduction is for kindergarten through grade 12 educators out-of-pocket expenses of up to $250.

For those falling into any of these three categories, the delay affects both paper and electronic filers.  We will keep you posted as information becomes available to us for our software vendors, Thomson Reuters.

Should you have any further questions, please call us at 952-440-3777.