Is April 18th really the last day to file taxes this year? Can we start on 24 January?
That actually is up to the US Congress, which has not passed a reconciliation bill or budget extension. After all, the fiscal year began last 1 October!
This failure to produce a budget (consistent with the failure of this session of Congress to pass any major bill) means that a government shutdown could be imminent-tomorrow (Friday) night at midnight!. But, it’s not clear the entire IRS will be shut down. (The agency is working on ‘carve-out’ operations.)
The start date could be secure is fairly secure, if the shutdown won’t start until 2 February (and not tomorrow night)- if it does. As of that date, without a budget deal, major furloughs (of all government agencies, not just the IRS) will ensue. (However, this shutdown will also delay taxpayer refunds!)
One of the bones of contention (of course it is, since the IRS collects way more money that it spends!) is the $ 80 billion of funding the agency was allocated by the Inflation Reduction Act. This allocation was included to rebuild the IRS after a decade of starvation by the GOP. And, the IRS has been using those funds wisely. Collecting back taxes, modernizing antiquated systems, find ways for folks to respond electronically and not requiring a mailed response, etc.
May their funding continue to remain.
