Don’t get too excited. It’s not closed forever. The Internal Revenue Service had previously announced five planned daylong furloughs beginning on May 24, 2013. The other scheduled furlough days are June 14, July 5, July 22, and August 30, 2013. The closures are related to gaps in the budget, including those due to sequestration.
What this means is that IRS will effectively shut down on those days. All IRS offices, including taxpayer assistance centers, will be closed. No employees will report to work (they are furloughed without pay) so that means no answers to your phone calls or correspondences. No tax returns will be processed and no electronically filed returns will be accepted or acknowledged. No refund checks will be issued. You will also not be able to access the “Where’s My Refund?” tool and the Online Payment Agreement system.
On the plus side? No audits or exams will be conducted and no bills will go out.
That said, this doesn’t mean that due dates are extended: tax-filing and tax payment deadlines will remain in place. Taxpayers should continue to file tax returns and pay taxes due. Since the Treasury Department’s Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) will operate, payroll and excise tax deposits for businesses can go on as usual.
If you’re counting days for court deadlines (for example, for U.S. Tax Court), furlough days count as normal days: you don’t get any extra time to file. However, IRS has announced that it will allow taxpayers extra time for certain document requests, including administrative summonses, requests for records in connection with a return examination, review or compliance check, or document requests related to a collection matter if the last day for the request falls on a furlough day. If that happens, you have until the next business day. So, if your deadline is tomorrow, May 24, you have until Tuesday, May 28, to comply (remember that Monday is Memorial Day).
Enjoy the long break from the IRS. On Tuesday, it’s back to normal (whatever that passes for these days).
