Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Accounting News Roundup: Let’s Try This Tax Day Thing Again | 04.18.18

I.R.S. Website Crashes on Tax Day as Millions Tried to File Returns [NYT]
Yesterday was Tax Day and everyone’s worst nightmare came true:

Millions of taxpayers who waited until Tuesday to file their 2017 tax returns and make payments through the Internal Revenue Service’s website were thwarted by a systemwide computer failure that advised last-minute filers to “come back on Dec. 31, 9999.”

The message on the IRS website also said, “Note that your tax payment is due although IRS Direct Pay may not be available,” and haha, just kidding, they’re giving everyone until today to file their returns. This was a pretty epic disaster, and, yes, people overuse “epic” but come on, I think it’s warranted:

The website malfunction, which began in the early hours of Tuesday morning and was not resolved until early evening, crippled a crucial part of the agency’s website that allows taxpayers to file returns electronically and make their tax payments directly through their bank accounts. The technology failure essentially brought the nation’s tax machinery to a halt on a day when millions of Americans were expected to file their tax returns, undermining the Trump administration’s plan to use Tax Day to promote its recent $1.5 trillion tax overhaul.

This “catastrophic” malfunction came as a surprise to precisely no one since the IRS has been running the same hardware since the Kennedy Administration, and the GOP Congress has spent the last several years cutting its budget. Perhaps this is just the type of meltdown we needed.

Related: The IRS Really Needs Some New Computers

A Quick and Futile Reminder That TurboTax Is Pure Fucking Evil [Splinter]
This is your annual hate read about Intuit and H&R Block’s obstruction of return-free filing and keeping the tax law sufficiently complex. We first reported on this five years ago, and many other outlets have given plenty of attention to it as well. It’s gotten to the point that Vox is just updating its original “I’m boycotting TurboTax” post from two years ago. For the record, Libby Watson reports that Intuit spent $2 million on lobbying last year.

Trump Requests Extension to File 2017 Taxes [NYT]
Speaking of reminders, squishy creep and President of the United States, Donald Trump, filed an extension. Oh, and another reminder: He’s the first president since Gerald Ford to not release his tax returns to the public.

Survey says…

We launched a survey yesterday to learn about your experiences with the month-end close process. Your participation is appreciated. That is all.

Previously, on Going Concern…

I wrote about Levi’s accounting and jean ripping robots.

Megan Lewcyzk wrote about KPMG’s Master’s of Accounting program.

In Open Items, someone wants to know how to prepare for a Big 4 audit position.

From the archives: What Accounting Firm Logos Say About Those Firms. See also: I’m Calling BS on Your Cliched Career Aspirations

In other news:

Get the Accounting News Roundup in your inbox every weekday by signing up here.

See something we missed? Have a tip, correction, comment, or complaint? Email us at [email protected].

Image: iStock/chaoss