As the calendar prepares to switch over to 2019, the clowns we elected who are supposed to represent us down in Washington DC could not come to an agreement to fund about 25% of the federal government. This standoff has resulted in a shutdown of those departments that have not yet been funded, Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for those who might think it), the US Treasury department is one of those affected agencies.
The question that most people would ask is this – “How will my tax filing be affected?” The best answer is it depends. There are certain functions that will continue despite the shutdown:
- Processing of returns with payments
- Processing disaster relief transcripts
- E-filing of returns – to a point
- Design & printing of tax forms
- Appeals – please note statutory deadlines will not change
- Certain civil and criminal tax cases
- Active criminal investigations – reasonable, the crooks don’t stop just because the IRS did.
- IRS website
During a shutdown, only 1 in 8 IRS employees will remain on the job (or about 10000 people). This includes the IRS Commissioner, appeals staff, lawyers, Taxpayer Advocates, and investigators.
That being said, here’s the functions that will not happen:
- Processing of non-disaster relief transcripts
- Processing of amended returns (Form 1040X)
- Non-automated collection activity
- Most audits or examinations
- Legal counsel
- Call center outside of the filing season
- ISSUING OF REFUNDS
One could imagine that last item would be a major sticking point. The start of tax season has not been delayed as of yet, but even so, people that are expecting refunds might have to wait for them to be issued (probably due to the fact that the IRS has no authority to release any kind of funding right now). This also creates problems for preparers such as myself, as I would not be able to provide clients with any kind of refund guidance, let alone anyone who is using some kind of bank product.
All I can suggest to taxpayers is to schedule your appointments as normal, with the understanding that any refund might just be held up.
