‪The IRS Can’t Afford To Issue Tax Refunds During Government Shutdown‬

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Every January a lot of Americans love to get their W2s to receive their tax refund. This year no one will be receiving their tax return. The government shutdown complicates an already complex tax season due to the myriad new regulations created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the sweeping bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in late 2017.

Since the government shutdown, the IRS now lacks funding and under the shutdown plan, is only operating with about 1 in 8 employees (12.5%) according to Wall Street Journal. Apparently, during the shutdown the IRS doesn’t perform audits, respond to questions outside of filing season or process refunds.

The good news is is the shutdown is resolved in a few weeks, then all of this will have little effect on our tax refunds. The bad news is, lawmakers have made very little progress on movement toward a deal. To add insult to injury, if you owe on your taxes, you’d still need to pay by April 15th.

Taxpayers who’ve been counting on a tax refund to pay off credit-card bills from Christmas spending may feel themselves squeezed, in other words. About 102 million tax refunds were issued last year, at a total value of $285 billion, according to eFile, a tax software site.

Even before the shutdown, there were concerns IRS staffers wouldn’t be ready in time for the tax season, given the extent of the changes in the 2017 tax law.

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