Is the Government Shutdown Going to Affect Your Return?

The White House and congressional leaders are working on a deal that would slash about $33 billion from the federal budget, including $10 billion already cut by two other short-term measures, amounting to the largest reductions in U.S. history.

The shutdown would come from a lack of a resolution on the budget and plans to reduce the U.S. federal deficit. It could potentially leave 800,000 employees taking a “temporary leave of absence”. If a deal was struck by Monday, there would not be a shutdown at all, as many do not work then anyways.

If the shutdown actually happens, it would have some immediate consequences.

Some of these employees who could be furloughed will be employees of the IRS. This doesn’t mean the date for federal income tax returns will be affected. It will still be April 18^th. Still, it will mess with those who continue to file by paper and mail and not electronically will experience a noticeable delay in the time it takes to process the return. On the lighter side, others will find that the actions like audits and collections will slow down in conjunction with the furloughed workers.

The fiscal year is 189 days old and Congress has yet to pass a budget. Instead, it passed six — yes, six — short-term spending bills. So instead of dealing with the problem, we are now just going to hang a “Closed” sign on the door of the U.S. government.