IRS efile

• Taxpayers who use the IRS efiling system to file their tax returns electronically must wait until at least Jan. 7, 2011 to file their taxes electronically. The federal government's efile acceptance date does not begin until Jan. 14, 2011. Therefore, although taxpayers may begin filing their returns as early as Jan. 7, the IRS will not begin accepting efile returns until Jan. 14, 2011.
  
  

W-2 Deadlines

• Taxpayers who are not self-employed must wait for their employers to provide them with their W-2 statements reflecting the total income earned during the tax year and the total tax paid by the employee during the tax year. Employers have until Jan. 31 of each year to provide their employees with the IRS Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. However, taxpayers receiving Social Security payments may need to wait longer since the Social Security Administration has until the last day of February to provide its recipients with their Wage and Tax Statements.
  
  

2011 Changes

• Although the IRS' tax seasons starts as early as January, some taxpayers may have to wait until late February to file their taxes. Congress enacted new laws, which President Barack Obama signed into law in late 2010. The new laws impact the IRS's electronic systems and paper processing centers, and the IRS may need more time to process the refunds. Taxpayers who must wait to file their tax returns include taxpayers using Schedule A of the 1040 Form to itemize their deductions, taxpayers claiming deductions for the higher education credits and taxpayers who are able to take advantage of the new Educator Expense Deduction. These taxpayers must wait until at least mid-February to file their returns.
  
  

Estimated Taxes

• The federal government requires taxpayers to pay estimated tax payments as they earn income on a quarterly basis for each income period. Taxpayers who should file quarterly taxes include those with at least $1,000 of tax liability in previous years or anticipate their tax liabilities will exceed $1,000 in 2011. The IRS divides each tax year into four quarters. Taxpayers who pay quarterly taxes to report earnings and pay tax liabilities in four installments must file their quarterly taxes for 2011 by April 18, June 15, Sept. 15 and Jan. 17 of 2012 for each quarter. The IRS uses special weekend and holiday rules to extend the deadline if the deadline falls on a holiday or weekend day.