Overview
- Roughly 34,400 of the IRS’s about 74,300 employees were furloughed on Oct. 8, with 39,870 retained under a contingency plan for essential functions.
- No blanket extension has been announced, so an estimated 19.8–20 million taxpayers who filed for extensions must submit returns by Oct. 15 to avoid failure-to-file penalties.
- Penalties and interest continue to apply, including a 5% per month failure-to-file penalty and a 0.5% per month late-payment penalty, with interest accruing on unpaid balances.
- Taxpayers are urged to file and pay electronically to avoid paper processing delays and to expect longer wait times and limited specialized assistance during the shutdown.
- Disaster-related relief remains in effect for select areas, including Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and parts of West Virginia, where the filing deadline is extended to Nov. 3.