Tax Filing Season Delayed Up to Two Weeks Due to Shutdown
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iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The 2014 tax filing season will be delayed up to two weeks due to the government shutdown, the Internal Revenue Service announced Tuesday.
The delay for when the government will start accepting tax filings does not delay the final deadline for filing taxes. The April 15 tax deadline will remain in place.
The Jan. 21 start date for accepting tax returns in 2014 will be pushed back at least until Jan. 28 — and it could be pushed back as far as Feb. 4.
According to the IRS, the government shutdown forced the IRS to close 90 percent of its operation for 16 days, and that delay set back work on preparing for the new tax season by nearly three weeks.
“Readying our systems to handle the tax season is an intricate, detailed process, and we must take the time to get it right,” said Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel in a statement. “The adjustment to the start of the filing season provides us the necessary time to program, test and validate our systems so that we can provide a smooth filing and refund process for the nation’s taxpayers.”
“We want the public and tax professionals to know about the delay well in advance so they can prepare for a later start of the filing season,” he added.
Tax returns won’t be processed before Jan. 28, and neither will refund checks, so the IRS has warned not to fill out paper tax forms before that date.
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