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Treasury sets January 26, 2026 start date for federal tax filing season

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The IRS opens the federal individual income tax filing season on January 26, 2026.

Source summary
In a speech to the Economic Club of Minnesota, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised President Donald Trump’s first year back in office, contrasting what he called a strong "Trump economy" with the "Biden economy" of high inflation, interest rates, and costs. Bessent highlighted the Working Families Tax Cut Act, Trump’s trade and tariff policies, and deregulation as drivers of higher investment, innovation, and income, particularly citing new business investment and support for agriculture and manufacturing. He promoted new "Trump Accounts" that would grant every newborn a $1,000 Treasury-funded investment, called on businesses to match these contributions, and announced that the 2026 tax filing season will begin on January 26. Bessent also criticized Minnesota’s state leadership and a major welfare fraud case, pledging Treasury’s commitment to recover funds and prevent similar scams while urging Minnesota businesses to embrace Trump’s pro-business agenda.
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Timeline

  1. Update · Jan 26, 2026, 10:28 AMcomplete
    Claim restated: A Jan. 8, 2026 Treasury press release said the 2026 federal individual income tax filing season would begin on January 26, 2026 ("one of its earliest starts in a decade"). Completion condition: the IRS opens the individual filing season on Jan. 26, 2026. Primary evidence: the Internal Revenue Service announced on Jan. 8, 2026 that Jan. 26, 2026 is the opening day for the 2026 filing season (IR-2026-02), and the IRS Modernized e-File (MeF) schedule lists individual returns beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern on Jan. 26, 2026. Contemporaneous reporting from major outlets (CNBC, CBS News and others) corroborated the IRS announcement and noted that the agency began accepting and processing individual 2025 returns on Jan. 26; IRS Free File had opened earlier (Jan. 9) for eligible lower-AGI taxpayers. Impacts and scale: the IRS said it expects about 164 million individual returns for the year and set the filing/payment deadline as April 15, 2026; the agency also noted new tax-law provisions and updated forms that could affect refunds and credits. Starting on Jan. 26 allowed taxpayers to begin filing earlier in the calendar year and begin receiving refunds as returns are processed. Context and caveats: Treasury/IRS characterized Jan. 26 as an unusually early start; I did not find an authoritative IRS historical table in these sources verifying the precise "one of the earliest in a decade" ranking, but the operative completion condition—IRS opening on Jan. 26—was met. Final assessment: the promise was fulfilled—IRS opened the 2026 individual filing season on Jan. 26, 2026 as pledged.
  2. Scheduled follow-up · Jan 26, 2026
  3. Completion due · Jan 26, 2026
  4. Update · Jan 17, 2026, 11:56 AMin_progress
    Restated claim: The 2026 federal tax filing season would begin on January 26, 2026, one of the earliest starts in a decade. Evidence: The IRS announced on January 8, 2026 that January 26, 2026 would be the opening day of the 2026 filing season. Status: The start date remains scheduled, and IRS guidance indicates returns for 2025 can be filed starting that date, subject to any operational adjustments.
  5. Scheduled follow-up · Jan 17, 2026
  6. Original article · Jan 08, 2026
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