There are some big questions surrounding taxes this year, thanks to pandemic complications.
Last year, the IRS delayed the tax filing deadline until July 15.
"Everybody thought that was the greatest idea in the world, and as it turns out, it was actually not such a great idea because it meant a lot of people were not getting their tax refunds as quick as they could have been getting," said Jill Schlesinger, CBS News Business Analyst.
Schlesinger, a guest on KCBS Radio’s "Ask An Expert," said this season, the tax filing deadline has been delayed again, this time to May 17, which gives people an extra 32 days.
Schlesinger said the IRS did not want to delay it, but the problem was the American Rescue Plan passed right in the middle of tax season.
"That meant that some software wasn’t updated for folks," she said. "It also meant that some people were concerned about, am I going to get a stimulus check or not? Is it based on 2019 or 2020?"
She said the bottom line is if the IRS has a record for someone, they’re going to send them a stimulus check of $1,400, and that $1,400 is not taxable, nor was any other stimulus check.
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Schlesinger said she’s not sure why the IRS wouldn’t have taken one more month, and pushed the deadline to June 15 instead of May 17, as tax preparers are losing their minds right now.
"They are absolutely losing their minds because so much of the American Rescue Plan is based on tax filing," she told KCBS Radio. "People are now scrambling and saying ‘I need that $1,400, get my returns done Mr., Mrs. Tax Preparer.'"
If something seems wrong, there are two ways to get economic payments that may be owed. The first is by looking at line 30 on this year’s tax return.
The other is to go through the IRS website.
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