Illinois delays start of income tax filing season

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois revenue officials say residents won’t be able to file their 2013 income taxes until the end of January — a two-week delay.

The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reported the delay follows a similar federal postponement. Refunds and the April 15 filing deadline aren’t affected.

The Internal Revenue Service is delaying the start of the tax-filing season because of last year’s government shutdown that furloughed workers who were programming and testing tax-processing systems.

Now, state and federal returns can be filed starting Jan. 31.

Sue Hofer is a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Revenue.

She says the two-week delay isn’t expected to cause problems in Illinois because “very few people file in January anyway.”

Employers have until Jan. 31 to give employees W-2 forms.