CHENANGO COUNTY – With the holiday season coming to a close, many individuals are looking forward to this year’s tax season and anticipating a quick and speedy return, however, due to action taken by Congress, they may have to wait a little longer.

Last week, Congress approved a stop gap measure that will prevent more than 20 million tax payers from having to pay the alternative minimum tax, however, due to the timing of their action, tax refunds may not be available until mid-March.

The alternative minimum tax was originally instituted to prevent wealthy individuals from using loop holes and deductions to avoid paying taxes, however, due to inflation and the fact that the alternative minimum tax system was not adjusted accordingly, many middle-class tax payers could have been left holding the bag this year.

Actions taken by Congress will result in only about 4 million tax payers falling in to the alternative minimum tax system, as opposed to the 20 million who would have been paying if the stop-gap had not been instituted. However, since the IRS will now have to update and reprogram their computers and tax software to reflect the changes, it could be seven weeks before tax season can officially begin.