The shutdown continues for the government and several areas of the IRS. Unfortunately, taxpayers haven’t been given additional time to file their extensions that are still due on Tuesday, October 15th. An estimated 12 million taxpayers that filed for extensions on April 15 will need to finalize their returns. What should you know if you’re filing your return?
Tax refunds likely to be delayed
The IRS will not be issuing refunds to taxpayers during the period that the government is shutdown. The IRS has issued a statement indicating that they aren’t working under normal operations and don’t have the capacity to review and send refunds to taxpayers. Taxpayers that were banking on receiving a refund to pay bills or make a purchase will have to come up with a contingency plan.
Don’t expect any IRS tax assistance
The IRS will not be responding to any taxpayer questions during the shutdown. Typically, the IRS provides a tax hotline for taxpayers to ask many questions as well as seek assistance from a taxpayer advocate. There will still be an automated phone service, but the assistance is very limited. During this downtime, we would highly recommend that you find a CPA to connect with before it’s too late. Our office remains open throughout the weekend if you’d like to send a request to hire an accountant in our network.
Roth IRA recharacterizations are also due
If you converted your traditional IRA into a Roth IRA, but would like to undo the conversion because the account value dropped or you realize you can’t afford to pay taxes on the conversion, the deadline to recharacterize is still October 15th.
More tax questions? Browse answers or ask tax questions online. You can also find an accountant online here.
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