It seems to me that it is more likely that the IRS, with its noted huge backlog, is the source of the delay. Tax software platforms have to wait for the IRS to finalize tax forms before coding them and submitting to the IRS for approval. The overall process takes time. Some forms are still not even finalized. How is the tax software to blame? I don't even think the IRS is to blame. Can you imagine the IRS releasing all of the forms for 2020, then Congress passes a bunch of covid-related legislation in the middle of tax season that required changes to all of the forms? How about the software companies that had to then re-code everything? It is not like they were paid extra. We are talking about a lot of work being done by the IRS and by the software companies, with a workforce that was likely smaller due to the impacts of covid, and a lot more people filing tax returns than ever before due to the stimulus payments, etc. All of these factors combine to cause delays. Waiting until the first week of March to file my tax return is fine with me.
