IRS developed a plan for the government shutdown. And as you can imagine it is not good for tax payers. The Treasury Department released its 63-page long “FY2014 Shutdown Contingency Plan (Non-Filing Season)” for IRS on September 27.

Impact on filing- Yes you are required to file on time and pay taxes as usual. Tax payers with extensions are required to file by Oct 15 to be considered timely filed return. Electric filing is supported. Paper returns will not be processed until the shutdown ends.

No in-person or live phone assistance. No live telephone customer service assistance will be available during the shutdown. However, most automated toll-free telephone applications will remain operational. IRS walk-in taxpayer assistance centers will also be closed. IRS’s website will remain available, although some of its interactive features may not be available.

Certain appointments presumed cancelled. While the government is closed, people with appointments related to examinations (audits), collection, Appeals or Taxpayer Advocate cases should assume their meetings are cancelled. IRS personnel will reschedule those meetings at a later date.

The IRS computers will continue to churn our automated notices. The IRS won’t be working any paper correspondence during the shutdown, but automatic notices will continue to be mailed. What does that mean to you? The IRS computers are comparing each tax return to the document copies they receive from banks, financial institutions, employers, etc. If the computer cannot match its records to your return the taxes are recalculated. If you would owe more in taxes, the computer sends you a letter.

When you get a letter from the IRS it is important to respond on time. Do not ignore the IRS letters. If you prepared your own tax return, consider contacting a tax professional to determine an appropriate response.

Yes, the IRS is closed but when they start up again, they will expect to see your correspondence. Their closure is no excuse for a late response. However, if you have an appointment for a face to face audit meeting, they will need to make a new appointment after they are back to work. This gives you more time. It is about the only good to come out of this shutdown.

In accordance with Circular 230 Disclosure