STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Citizens across the United States will have an additional three days to file their 2022 taxes, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on its website.

Tax Day, originally on April 15, will be extended to Tuesday, April 18, due to the weekend and observance of Emancipation Day, which is celebrated only in Washington, D.C.

Emancipation Day, which celebrates the end of slavery in the nation鈥檚 capital, falls on a Sunday and will be observed Monday, pushing back the deadline for tax filing.

The 2023 tax season officially began on Jan. 23, which means the IRS has started to accept and process 2022 tax year returns.

More than 168 million individual tax returns are expected to be filed, with the vast majority of those coming before the tax deadline in April.

And with the three previous tax seasons dramatically impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the IRS announced it has taken additional steps for 2023 to improve service for taxpayers. As part of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS has hired more than 5,000 new telephones to assist staffers and added more in-person staff.

You can speed up your refund by filing electronically and choosing direct deposit. It鈥檚 the fastest and easiest way to file and receive a refund. To avoid delays in processing, people should avoid filing paper returns wherever possible, according to the IRS.

Individuals can use a bank account, prepaid debit card, or mobile app to use direct deposit and will need to provide routing and account numbers with their return.

IRS Free File is open. Participating providers have been accepting and preparing tax returns before Jan. 23 to submit the returns when the IRS systems open.

The IRS鈥檚 Free File program, available only at IRS.gov, allows taxpayers who made $73,000 or less in 2022 to file their taxes electronically for free using brand-name software provided by commercial tax filing companies. Free File Fillable forms, a part of this effort, are available to any income level and provide free electronic forms that people fill out and file themselves also at no cost.

Single-filling individuals who earned $56,000 or less in 2022, or families who earned $80,000 or less are eligible.