IRS Says Expect Up To Three Weeks In Delays Because Of Shutdown

Here's another thing that might affect you because the government shut down. When sending in your tax return, it may be delayed by one or two weeks, the Internal Revenue Service announced.

Normally the government starts going through the taxes by mid January, this year it could be delayed as late as Feb 4. You still have to file a return by April 15, and companies must still send W-2 and other tax forms on schedule, usually by Jan. 31.

According to the USAtoday, the IRS said it needs the extra time to program and test tax-processing systems. "The government closure came during the peak period for preparing IRS systems for the 2014 filing season," the IRS said in a release. "Programming, testing and deployment of more than 50 IRS systems is needed to handle processing of nearly 150 million tax returns."About 90% of the IRS was idled during the partial government shutdown, putting the IRS about three weeks behind in preparations, the IRS said. "Readying our systems to handle the tax season is an intricate, detailed process, and we must take the time to get it right," acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said.

In December the IRS will announce when it will start to accept returns, and said that those who file electronically can still expect their returns just as fast.

I think the congress people should have to live and use the same filing we do. They can experience the delays and remember that next time they have to get together for a shut down.

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