Skip to content

Recent Posts

  • Taxgirl Goes To The Movies: Star Wars
  • Looking For Tax Breaks?
  • Taxgirl Goes Back To The Movies In 2025
  • Here’s What You Need To Know About Submitting Tax Questions
  • Looking For More Great Tax Content?

Most Used Categories

  • individual (1,314)
  • politics (862)
  • IRS news/announcements (753)
  • tax policy (582)
  • ask the taxgirl (543)
  • prosecutions, felonies and misdemeanors (479)
  • just for fun (478)
  • state & local (403)
  • pop culture (399)
  • charitable organizations (389)
Skip to content

Taxgirl

Because paying taxes is painful… but reading about them shouldn’t be.

  • About Taxgirl
  • Info
    • My Disclaimer
    • A Word (or More) About Your Privacy
    • Subscribe
  • Ask The Taxgirl
  • Comments
  • Taxgirl Podcast
    • Podcast Season 1
    • Podcast Season 2
    • Podcast Season 3
  • Contact
  • Home
  • 2016
  • February
  • 3
  • IRS Website Hit With Hardware Failure, Some Refund & Payment Tools Unavailable

IRS Website Hit With Hardware Failure, Some Refund & Payment Tools Unavailable

Kelly Phillips ErbFebruary 3, 2016January 20, 2022

Some taxpayers who visited the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website today noticed a problem. A big problem. Bits of the IRS website, at www.irs.gov, were not operating. The reason? A hardware failure.

The IRS is working to make repairs and restore service but cannot offer a firm date for when systems will be back to normal.

The IRS did not suggest that any taxpayer data was at risk as a result of the hardware failure. Additionally, the IRS did not indicate that the receipt or processing of any taxpayer returns would be significantly affected by the outage for the long term: refunds were still expected to be on schedule.

The IRS released the following statement:

The IRS experienced a hardware failure this afternoon affecting a number of tax processing systems, which are currently unavailable. Several of our systems are not currently operating, including our modernized e-file system and a number of other related systems. The IRS is currently in the process of making repairs and working to restore normal operations as soon as possible. We anticipate some of the systems will remain unavailable until tomorrow.

The IRS remains in close contact with e-file software transmitters and the tax community during this period.
A number of taxpayer and tax practitioner tools are unavailable. IRS.gov remains available, although a number of the services on the site are not, including Where’s My Refund.

Taxpayers can continue to prepare and file their tax returns as they normally would. Taxpayers can continue to send their tax returns to their e-file provider; these companies will hold the tax returns until the IRS resumes accepting electronic tax returns. Taxpayers who have already filed their tax returns do not need to take any additional action.

The IRS is still assessing the scope of the outage. At this time, the IRS does not anticipate major refund disruptions; we continue to expect that 9 out of 10 taxpayers will receive their refunds within 21 days.

A trip over to the IRS website confirmed that the “Where’s My Refund?” app and the FreeFile portion of the IRS website appear to be working. Additionally, the EITC assistant and the Interactive Tax Assistant are operable. Some online payment systems (such as paying by credit card) are also working.

As of this evening (2/3/2016, 8:30 pm), outages remain. The following tools are currently unavailable:

  • The “Get Transcript” tool
  • The “Where’s My Amended Return?” tool
  • Direct Pay

Additionally, you currently cannot:

  • “Get Your Electronic Filing PIN”
  • Apply for an Online Payment Agreement for Individuals and Businesses

Tax pros weren’t spared: you currently can’t log in to e-Services (for tax professionals).

I’ll be sure to offer an update about the repair progress once more information is available.

Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail
author avatar
Kelly Phillips Erb
Kelly Phillips Erb is a tax attorney, tax writer, and podcaster.
See Full Bio
social network icon social network icon
IRS website, irs.gov

Post navigation

Previous: #100MoneyTips Now Available As An eBook
Next: Update: IRS Website Back Online, Tax Refunds Unaffected

Related Posts

IRS Releases ETAAC Recommendations to Congress 

July 5, 2024July 5, 2024 Kelly Phillips Erb
Open Sign

Tax Season Opens on January 23—And Taxpayers Have More Time to File

January 12, 2023January 12, 2023 Kelly Phillips Erb
rain

IRS Offers California Storm Victims Extra Time to File

January 11, 2023January 11, 2023 Kelly Phillips Erb

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

© 2005-2022, Kelly Phillips Erb | Theme: BlockWP by Candid Themes.
Skip to content
Open toolbar Accessibility Tools

Accessibility Tools

  • Increase TextIncrease Text
  • Decrease TextDecrease Text
  • GrayscaleGrayscale
  • High ContrastHigh Contrast
  • Negative ContrastNegative Contrast
  • Light BackgroundLight Background
  • Links UnderlineLinks Underline
  • Readable FontReadable Font
  • Reset Reset
  • SitemapSitemap
  • FeedbackFeedback