A change in tax filing deadline is just one of the important dates to know for tax season 2023.

Due to Emancipation Day, a holiday that celebrates the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, the deadline for filing taxes in 2023 has been pushed back to Tuesday, April 18. By federal law, Washington D.C. holidays impact tax deadlines for everyone in the same way as federal holidays. April 15 – the traditional tax filing deadline – is a Saturday and Emancipation Day falls on Monday, pushing the deadline to Tuesday.

There are other important tax dates to know:

Open now

IRS opened its Free File program last week. Free File allows taxpayers who made $73,000 or less in 2022 to file their taxes electronically for free using brand-name software provided by commercial tax filing companies. Free File Fillable forms, a part of this effort, is available to any income level and provides free electronic forms that people fill out and file themselves also at no cost.

Jan. 23

IRS begins 2023 tax season and starts accepting and processing individual 2022 tax returns.

Jan. 31

Deadline to distribute Forms W-2 to employees.

Feb. 28

While the IRS will begin accepting returns Jan. 23, the IRS cannot issue a refund that includes the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit before mid-February. Most EITC/ACTC filers will receive an updated status by Feb. 18 on the IRS Where is my Refund site. The IRS expects most EITC/ACTC related refunds to be available in taxpayer bank accounts or on debit cards by Feb. 28 if taxpayers chose direct deposit and there are no other issues with their tax return.

April 18

National tax due date to file a 2022 tax return or request an extension and pay tax owed due to the Emancipation Day holiday in Washington, D.C.

Oct. 16

Due date to file for those requesting an extension on their 2022 tax returns.

Quickest way to get your refund

More than 168 million individual tax returns are expected to be filed, with the vast majority of those coming before the April 18 tax deadline.

The quickest way to get your refund, according to the IRS, is to file electronically using direct deposit. In general, most refunds will be issued within 21 days.