RALEIGH -- The North Carolina Department of Revenue has opened the 2020 individual income tax filing season and  is accepting and processing individual income tax returns. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) federal tax filing is also now open.

Tax returns are due this year on Wednesday, April 15. Taxpayers who filed before Jan. 27 will now begin receiving acknowledgements for electronically filed (eFiled) returns.

Free online filing (eFile) options for qualified taxpayers are available through the NCDOR.gov website using NCfreefile. Eligibility requirements for NCfreefile are available here.

Due to the NCDOR’s enhanced identity theft protection measures, some refunds may take longer than normal, which is 8 weeks for electronically-filed returns and 12 weeks for paper returns. Filing returns early also reduces the risk of tax refund fraud.