Those concerns are valid according to accountants, who are strongly advising people to file early this year, as they could encounter delays, particularly as they get closer to the filing deadline. The Internal Revenue Service began accepting tax returns on Jan. 27 and will continue to do so until April 15, unless a taxpayer asks for an extension.

The IRS fired probationary workers this week, claiming they weren't critical to tax filing season.The agency had already been struggling in recent years to keep up with tax return processing.One expert said there's no way to cut a large number of workers without affecting filing season.