It was an eye-opening headline from The Wall Street Journal. Delayed tax refunds? Now this is serious.
The Internal Revenue Service will happily take your money but if the government shutdown continues into February, refunds will be delayed. From The Wall Street Journal:
“The Internal Revenue Service is one of the agencies that now lacks funding, and the U.S. tax collector has been operating with about 1 in 8 employees under the shutdown plan it uses outside the tax-filing season.
“During a shutdown, the IRS can continue activities that protect government property, and the agency may bring in more workers soon to prepare for the income-tax filing season. Even during a shutdown, the agency still processes some tax returns that include payments, keeps computer systems running and continues criminal investigations. But the IRS generally doesn’t conduct audits, respond to taxpayer questions outside the filing season or—brace yourself—pay refunds.”
So the 80% of Americans who are due refunds during tax season won’t be getting them because of the border wall. Not distributing refunds would also be a gut punch to the economy as filers use refunds for major purchases.
Now imagine being a federal employee working without pay and now not receiving a tax refund.
