January 29 is the official start of the 2024 tax season, the IRS announced on Monday, and it expects over 128.7 million tax returns to be filed by the April 15 deadline.

The agency is undergoing a huge makeover, trying to enhance its technology and customer service with billions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act, a law signed by Democrats in August 2022.

“Taxpayers will see more improvement in IRS operations in the next filing season as our transformation efforts take effect,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a press release. “IRS employees are making sure that new funding helps taxpayers by simplifying the process of preparing and filing taxes.”

The agency’s leaders say that this year more walk-in centers will be available for taxpayers, better paperless processing will assist with IRS communication and improved individual online accounts will be offered to taxpayers.

Also, eligible taxpayers will be able to file their 2023 returns online with the IRS directly through a new, electronic direct file pilot. The IRS says it will be introduced gradually and is expected to be widely accessible in mid-March.

The IRS expects to issue most refunds in less than 21 days.

In the past, the IRS struggled with huge backlogs of paper tax returns. In June-2022, the IRS had more than 21 million backlogged paper tax returns, and National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins said then: “The math is daunting.”

Now, with more funding the IRS hopes for a smoother filing season with fewer backlogs, but it faces ongoing threats of funding cuts.

Last year’s deal between Republicans and the White House on the debt ceiling and budget cuts took $1.4 billion from the agency’s original $80 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, and another deal to take $20 billion from the IRS over two years and use those funds for other nondefense programs.