The Internal Revenue Service has set a date for the start of the 2024 tax season.

The tax agency will begin accepting and processing 2023 tax returns on Monday, Jan. 29. More than 128.7 million individual tax returns are expected to be filed by the April 15 deadline, the agency said.

“As our transformation efforts take hold, taxpayers will continue to see marked improvement in IRS operations in the upcoming filing season,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. “IRS employees are working hard to make sure that new funding is used to help taxpayers by making the process of preparing and filing taxes easier.”

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Although the IRS won’t officially accept and process tax returns until Jan. 29, you don’t have to wait until then to get started. Most tax software companies accept electronic submissions and then hold them until the IRS is ready to begin processing later this month. IRS Free File will also be available on IRS.gov starting Jan. 12.

IRS Free File includes participating software companies that accept completed tax returns and then hold them until they can be electronically filed with the IRS. There’s also IRS Free File Guided Tax Software at IRS.gov for any taxpayer or family with Adjusted Gross Income of $79,000 or less in 2023.

Starting Jan. 29, Free File Fillable forms are available at no cost to any income level, providing electronic forms that people can fill out and e-file themselves also at no cost.

The IRS issues most tax refunds in less than 21 days but certain credits can delay the process. By law, the IRS cannot issue Earned Income Tax Credits or Additional Child Tax Credit refunds before mid-February due to security issues. Filers claiming these credits can expect their refunds in their bank account or via debit card by Feb. 27 if they chose direct deposit and there are no other issues with their return.