The holidays are over and it's now a new year, that means you need to start thinking about taxes.

And if you depend on getting that tax refund, you're going to want to try to file early.

The Treasury department says the IRS is facing enormous challenges this tax season. They say budget cuts, covid issues and more workload due to stimulus measures will translate into slower processing this year, and that means it's going to take longer to get your expected tax refunds back.

In fact, the IRS is still behind on last year's work.

"6 million people are still waiting on their refunds from tax year 2020 and there's another 2 million taxpayers waiting on amended returns as well so there's a lot of delays," says Andrew Reigstad of Tax 29 in Boardman.

You can send your return in earlier this year in hopes to get a jump on others.
The IRS will start processing them two weeks earlier than last year, beginning January 24th.

If you have a basic return, you have a better chance of getting that refund sooner.

"They've already said we aren't going to start processing any earned income credit returns until February 15th so those returns are going to slower than anybody else but if you have a basic return, just a W2, no kids, you might get your return in a normal time frame," added Reigstad.

Try to avoid paper returns this year to avoid processing delays.
Filing electronically and asking for a direct deposit refund will also increase your chances on receiving a quicker refund.

And to make sure you don't get yourself in a financial pinch, don't spend it until you get it.