With the threat of a government shutdown coinciding with the upcoming April 18th tax due date, a perfect storm would seem to be developing that threatens the processing of millions of tax returns.
However, the IRS has a bit of encouraging news, at least for those taxpayers who take advantage of e-filing options.
According to the IRS, taxpayers who choose to electronically file their tax returns should see minimal to no delays in the processing and the remitting of their refund.
On Wednesday, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman gave prepared remarks to the National Press Club. Although the bulk of his address dealt with the IRS vision to overhaul the auditing look-back procedures, he did address the possible government shutdown in an informal Q&A.
“The president has made very clear that his goal is not to have a shutdown,” Shulman said. Though he added that the IRS has been “doing some contingency planning around this.”
"The most important thing I can communicate is: ‘file your tax return,’” Shulman told his audience.
Although IRS would not have not have a “full complement of operations” should a shutdown occur, Shulman said, “we will be accepting tax returns. Most returns are processed automatically and will not experience any delays.”
Electronically filed tax returns require minimal to no ‘hands-on’ operation. Taxpayers who e-file their returns and opt to have their refund directly deposited can still expect to see their refund in approximately 10 to 14 days.
Paper returns require coding and editing, as well as manual input of the information. A shutdown would doubtlessly delay paper return processing.
The federal government is currently operating under an extended continuing resolution, set to expire at midnight on Friday unless a fiscal budget or extension is passed. If a shutdown occurs, all non-essential branches of the government would be shuttered, with federal employees put on unpaid furlough.
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