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2019 Tax Season Finally Gets a Start Date

Posted on by Jason Bramwell

After Trump administration officials said on Jan. 7 that the IRS would send out tax refunds during the partial government shutdown, the agency took to Twitter last night to announce the start date for the 2019 tax-filing season:

The IRS usually announces the start date of the upcoming tax season in late December, but the pissing match between President Trump and Democratic leaders over whether “The Wall” was Pink Floyd’s best album, or something like that, which has now entered its 18th day, put that announcement on hold.

The Office of Management and Budget had ruled several years ago that the IRS could not send out tax refunds during a government shutdown, but it changed its mind yesterday at the Treasury Department’s request.

So, how is this all going to happen with no end to the shutdown in sight? Bernie Becker of Politico wondered the same thing:

Among those desiring more information: The Senate Finance Committee, which is expected to get a briefing in the coming days on IRS operations during the shutdown, according to a panel aide.

It’s been clear for a while that the IRS would have to bring a significant amount of furloughed employees back to work – for no pay, at least for now – to make the filing season work. What’s unclear is just how many more staffers the IRS will need, at a time when seven out of every eight are at home.

Treasury is expected to circulate within the next several days a new shutdown contingency plan, which will shift the IRS to filing season footing and should spell out how much of the agency will have to come back to the office. … The IRS’s fiscal 2018 filing season contingency plan, under which refunds wouldn’t have been sent out, would have had 43.5 percent of employees back on the job.

In a press release, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said the agency is “committed to ensuring that taxpayers receive their refunds notwithstanding the government shutdown.”

Individual income tax returns are due on Monday, April 15, unless you live in Maine or Massachusetts; thanks to the Patriots’ Day holiday on April 15 and the Emancipation Day holiday on April 16 in the District of Columbia, residents of those two states have until Wednesday, April 17, to file their returns.

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The IRS, Not Too Hung Up on Priorities, Demands Delinquent Taxes of Four Cents

In this morning’s roundup we gave a couple of examples of why you should consider giving the IRS a break and remember that they’re civil servants just doing their jobs. All the violence, jokes and resentment are a little self-serving so maybe we should all just back off.

And then we heard about a couple of jackbooted agents (armed to the teeth, presumably) heading over to Herv’s Metro Car Wash in Sacramento to demand some delinquent taxes from the owner Aaron Zeff.

“They were deadly serious, very aggressive, very condescending,” says Harv’s owner, Aaron Zeff…

“It’s hilarious,” he says, “that two people hopped in a car and came down here for just 4 cents. I think (the IRS) may have a problem with priorities.”

How on Earth could two agents be ‘deadly serious, very aggressive, very condescending’ over four f—ing cents? How serious are they required to take their jobs? In the job description does it explain “the collection of delinquent taxes are to be vigorously pursued, regardless of the sum”?

Plus, the letter states $202.31 of penalties and interest are supposedly due on the delinquent portion. Has the IRS gotten so desperate for funds that it has delved into loan sharking? What’s more, Zeff has a letter from October 2009 stating that he ‘has filed all required returns and addressed any balances due,’ which now makes us think that the Service is pulling names out of hat and saying “who is our delinquent taxpayer of the day?”

It’s hard to believe that with just a few days prior to the first corporate filing deadline of 2010, that these two agents didn’t have anything better to do. Someone could have sent them to a sorting facility or, God forbid, have them review some returns. Jesus, put them on loan to the Utah branch if nothing else. They need all the help they can get over there.

IRS visits Sacramento carwash in pursuit of 4 cents [Sacramento Bee via TaxProf]

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“Perhaps the most telling indicator of taxpayer confusion over the code’s complexity is that today, 90% of individual taxpayers pay for professional tax preparation or tax software to prepare their tax returns. IRS research estimates that, over the past 10 years, the burden for the typical taxpayer has increased by about 20% and would likely be even more if they had to prepare returns themselves without any aids or tools. Moreover, we estimate individual taxpayers and businesses spend more than 7 [billion] hours each year complying with filing requirements.” [Tax-News via Tax Foundation]