If your 2016 tax return claims an Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit your refund will be held by the IRS until February 15th. This delay is being mandated because of the proliferation of identity theft and fraudulent tax returns using taxpayer information. This extra time will be used by the IRS to help prevent revenue loss due to theft. Those most impacted by this change are early tax return filers.

If you typically file early, do not delay filing your tax return because of this rule change. Tax returns can still be processed. Only the refund is being delayed. Filing early can help you avoid the bottleneck of tax refund processing. However, if you historically plan on receiving an early refund, you will now need to plan for this delay.