IRS Furlough Day Postponed, Again

IRS Open Aug. 30; Furlough Postponed

The Internal Revenue Service today announced it will be open on Friday, Aug. 30, following the postponement of its fifth scheduled agency-wide employee furlough day.

"We have made substantial progress in cutting costs. … Our progress is such that we have decided to postpone the furlough day scheduled for Aug. 30. We still have more work to do on the budget and cost-savings, so we will reevaluate in early September and make a final determination as to whether we will need another furlough day in September," said Danny Werfel, IRS Acting Commissioner, in a message to IRS employees.

‪The IRS has so far taken three furlough days on May 24, June 14 and July 5 due to the current budget situation, including the sequester.


‪Last month, the IRS was also able to cancel the previously scheduled July 22nd furlough day due to cost-cutting efforts.

IRS To Be Closed on May 24th; Furlough Days

This is the reason we encouraged our clients to file early if they were due a refund.  This kind of thing has to cause a slight decrease in the work flow, especially when you work for the agency which "collects" the money to lower the country's debt.

 

 

IRS To Be Closed May 24, Four Other Days Due to Budget and Sequester; Filing and Payment Deadlines Unchanged

 

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today additional details about the closures planned for May 24, June 14, July 5, July 22 and Aug. 30, 2013.

Due to the current budget situation, including the sequester, all IRS operations will be closed on those days. This means that all IRS offices, including all toll-free hotlines, the Taxpayer Advocate Service and the agency’s nearly 400 taxpayer assistance centers nationwide, will be closed on those days. IRS employees will be furloughed without pay. No tax returns will be processed and no compliance-related activities will take place.

The IRS noted that taxpayers should continue to file their returns and pay any taxes due as usual.
Taxpayers needing to contact the IRS about their returns or payments should be sure to take these furlough dates into account. In some instances, this may include taxpayers with returns or payments due soon after a furlough day, such as the June 17 deadline for taxpayers abroad and those making a second-quarter estimated tax payment as well as the Sept. 3 deadline for truckers filing a highway use tax return.

Because none of the furlough days are considered federal holidays, the shutdown will have no impact on any tax-filing deadlines. The IRS will be unable to accept or acknowledge receipt of electronically-filed returns on any day the agency is shut down.

Similarly, tax-payment deadlines are also unaffected. The only tax payment deadlines coinciding with any of the furlough days relate to employment and excise tax deposits made by business taxpayers. These deposits must be made through the Treasury Department’s Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), which will operate as usual.

On the other hand, the agency will give taxpayers extra time to comply with a request to provide documents to the IRS. This includes administrative summonses, requests for records in connection with a return examination, review or compliance check, or document requests related to a collection matter. No additional time is given to respond to other agencies or the courts.

Where the last day for responding to an IRS request falls on a furlough day, the taxpayer will have until the next business day. If the last day to respond is Friday, May 24, for example, the taxpayer will have until Tuesday, May 28 to comply (Monday, May 27 is Memorial Day). Further details on the impact of the shutdown on IRS procedures will be available on IRS.gov.

Some web-based online tools and phone-based automated services will continue to function on furlough days, while others will be shut down. Available services include Withholding Calculator, Order A Transcript, EITC Assistant, Interactive Tax Assistant, the PTIN system for tax professionals, Tele-Tax and the Online Look-up Tool for those needing to repay the first-time homebuyer credit. Services not available on those days include Where’s My Refund? and the Online Payment

Agreement. Visit online tools on IRS.gov to learn more about these tools.
At a later date, the IRS may possibly announce one or two additional furlough days if necessary.

The IRS will be closed on five days because of budget cuts

We are thinking that five days isn't so bad, however what it will do to the morale of IRS employees is another story.  Tax payers should file returns as quickly as possible, especially if you have a refund coming, and definitely if you owe, because of the increase in penalties and interest related to a delay.

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Washington, D.C. (April 19, 2013)

By Richard Rubin

(Bloomberg) The Internal Revenue Service will close all of its public operations on five days from now through August because of employee furloughs, IRS Acting Commissioner Steven T. Miller told employees in a memo Friday.

The tax agency will be closed and almost all employees will be furloughed on May 24, June 14, July 5, July 22 and Aug. 30, Miller wrote.

The closing will affect operations such as the IRS toll-free lines and taxpayer assistance centers.

As many as two more furlough days may be needed in August and September, Miller wrote.

“We came to a decision that balances our primary mission to serve the taxpayers and considers the effect on employees,” he wrote. “We settled on having uniform furlough dates for everyone and closing down agency operations entirely. This way, the IRS can gain additional cost savings on utilities and other services in our work locations.”

Government agencies are furloughing employees to accommodate the budget reductions that took effect March 1.

Miller had said earlier that he wanted to delay furloughs until after the April 15 tax-filing deadline for individuals.

Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents IRS workers, called the furloughs a “disappointing development” and warned about the effect on taxpayers who file on deadlines besides April 15.

“I believe this is an unprecedented event that leaves taxpayers out in the cold,” she said in a statement.