You can file 24/7, but your forms have to show as "available" first, or it won't let you.
What do you mean by "earned income forms?" Do you mean your W-2's or Forms 1099-MISC (if applicable)? Or are you referring to a Form 1040 or 1040A? Those forms are supposed to become available today, January 18.
Are all of your Federal forms available for efiling? Some are projected to become available today January 18; some will take longer.
If you're waiting on a particular form to become available on January 18, that can happen any time today. When it does, the date in the column at this FAQ will change to "available."
Federal forms availability dates:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1908854-forms-availability-table-for-turbotax-federal-products-exc....
State forms availability dates:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1908857-state-forms-availability-table-for-turbotax-individual-per....
The IRS will not start processing returns until January 29. If you efile before then, your return will just sit stockpiled on TurboTax servers until the IRS starts pulling them on January 29 (except for a few test returns pulled early.) You won't be able to retrieve the return if you notice a mistake, get an additional W-2, 1099, etc. If you efile at this early point in time and need to change something, you'd have to wait until after January 29 to first find out if your return was accepted or rejected. If rejected, you could make any change and resubmit. If accepted, that would require waiting on any refund, then preparing an amended return, which can be a hassle.
Also, if you have EIC (earned income credit, aka EITC) or ACTC (additional child tax credit), the IRS will start processing them on Jan. 29, but will not start releasing those refunds until February 15. That means people with those types of credits may not start receiving their refunds until around February 27.
