Typically there's not a shutdown during the tax season. Ending the government shutdown couldn't have come at a better time, because now you can now file your tax return. But, now that the new 2018 IRS tax laws and brackets have gone into effect, they could cause delays.
Tax attorney Rebecca Walser said a lot of the IRS resources are dedicated to writing regulations and changing forms to accommodate the new tax law, and they're asking for more resources, even with the three-day shutdown. The IRS contingency plan includes 35,000 workers when there's a government shutdown that would've halted return processing.
Yet, Walser is a little concerned.
“The funding bill only goes through February 8th, and if this happens again, I do see that that would impact IRS operations,” said Walser.
She said we should be okay, as long as there's not another shutdown now through tax day.
“This is an unusual year, with all these tax law changes and then the government shutdown. Everything is happening, it’s kind of crazy, all happening together, so it could be a little bit of extended processing so just be aware that that is out there,” said Walser.
Normally, once you file electronically, it takes 10 days to get your return back. We’ll see how things work out this year.