Start your day here: Get ready for a difficult tax-filing season

Published January 26, 2022 at 8:15 AM EST
The IRS building is pictured in Washington, D.C.
Stefani Reynolds
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AFP via Getty Images
COVID-19 relief and child tax credits and a backlog of 2020 returns is expected to complicate matters this tax season.

Good morning.

We're following these top stories today:

Tax season starts: The understaffed and overworked Internal Revenue Service is bracing for frustrations — and offering some advice. President Biden has asked for a budget increase for the agency, but in the meantime, COVID-19 relief and child tax credits and a backlog of 2020 returns will complicate matters.

Ukraine update: A former Ukrainian defense minister says he doesn't expect Russia to mount a full-scale invasion, despite some 100,000 Russian troops massed at the border.

COVID-19 treatments: The Food and Drug Administration halted the use of two monoclonal antibodies after recent studies showed that they're highly unlikely to work against the omicron variant.

🎧 Also on Up First, our daily podcast, flaws plague a tool meant to help low-risk federal prisoners win early release.

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