Here's What the Government Shutdown Means for the IRS and for Taxpayers

suprised woman at her desk with palms up 

Updated as of January 7th @ 2pm PT - White House claims the IRS will now issue refunds!

We have good news and bad news.

The bad news: The IRS is among the government agencies affected by the government shutdown.

The good news: The IRS has a contingency plan in place which addresses which services the agency will and will not offer during the shutdown. Check it out:

During the shutdown, the IRS is still offering the following services:

  • Processing electronic and paper filed returns
  • Processing disaster relief transcripts
  • Design and printing of tax forms
  • Accepting payments
  • Issuing tax refunds!


During the shutdown, the IRS is NOT offering the following services:

  • Answering phone calls – try it 800-829-1040
  • Processing 1040X amended returns
  • Conducting audits or examinations of returns


Although the IRS has yet to announce a beginning to the 2019 tax season, we encourage you to continue planning for the upcoming tax season and suggest you take this tax update webinar to make sure you’re up-to-date on all the new tax changes before the season starts.