Vice President Pence announced today that the IRS would issue tax refunds during the government shutdown. The Wall Street Journal reported this earlier today, but it’s unclear what the legal justification would be. Speculation (by the Journal) is that the power to issue refunds is based on the permanent appropriations for the refunds themselves.
Meanwhile, other IRS services are closed. I cannot fax Powers of Attorney forms to the IRS; those fax numbers are down. I have an outstanding IRS audit where we’re waiting for information from the IRS auditor; he’s not working right now so the audit is on hold. I need to setup a payment plan for another client; I have no one to call at the IRS right now.
And we still have no idea when we will be able to file 2018 tax returns. Prior-year business returns can be filed beginning tomorrow; however, current-year (2018) returns cannot be filed at this point.
As to when the partial government shutdown will end, your guess is as good as mine.
Tags: 2019.Tax.Season