IRS Tax Refunds Won’t Be Issued During Government Shutdown

You know the old saying "I'll wait until I get my tax refund to do that" well you need to start planning to push back that purchase or repair or vacation if this latest government shutdown continues.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the I.R.S. has a "shutdown plan" in effect and if the shutdown drags on, early filers won’t receive the refunds they’re expecting. This is because they are short staffed and lack funding. Of course they will happily COLLECT any money you owe them but in terms of getting a refund, we all might be waiting until the President and Congress can get their act together.

During a shutdown, the IRS can continue activities that protect government property, and the agency may bring in more workers soon to prepare for the income-tax filing season. Even during a shutdown, the agency still processes some tax returns that include payments, keeps computer systems running and continues criminal investigations. But the IRS generally doesn’t conduct audits, respond to taxpayer questions outside the filing season or—brace yourself—pay refunds. - via The Wall Street Journal

If the two sides can find a way to end the stalemate in a few weeks, then we all could still get our returns on time but there has been little to no progress on re-opening the government and the IRS has not announced a start date to the 2019 tax season.

So save your money and spend wisely because we don't know how long this could last. What are your thoughts?