During Shutdown, IRS Computers Still Churn Out Tax Liens, Levies And Bills

At 1 A.M. Tuesday, just an hour after the budget standoff forced the partial shutdown of the federal government , Forbes contributor Kelly Phillips Erb (aka Taxgirl)  delivered two pieces of bad news to taxpayers: you still have to pay any taxes due, and if you have problems, tough luck, the Internal Revenue won’t be answering its phones. (Yes, you cynics, that is news. Even during the busy tax return filing season more than two thirds of callers do get through to  a human being at the IRS, although they have to hold for an average of 15 minutes first.)

It now turns out there is additional bad news for taxpayers, particularly those with IRS problems, known or unknown. Taxgirl, after studying the IRS’ preliminary shutdown plan, reported that National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson and 44 of her employees would continue working. But in the IRS’ final shutdown plan,  released Monday afternoon, not a single employee dedicated to protecting taxpayer rights was included in the 8,824  (out of  workforce of 94,516 ) kept on the job. Adapted from forbes.com

Related posts

Leave a Comment