The Internal Revenue Service’s IT systems experienced a hardware failure Wednesday, causing the agency to shut down several key taxpayer and tax practitioner tools.
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WASHINGTON (AP) – The IRS says it has resolved a computer system outage and is again accepting electronically filed tax returns.
The IRS opened e-filing of tax year 2015 returns as scheduled on January 19, and the system had worked satisfactorily until Wednesday.
The IRS said it does not anticipate major refund disruptions.
As a result, several of their systems are not operating at the time, including their modernized e-file system and a number of other related systems.
Citizens can still send returns to companies that serve as a middleman between taxpayers and the IRS. “You wouldn’t go to a doctor or dentist without first checking them out”, says Todd Simmens, national managing partner of Tax Risk Management at BDO. It also said that those taxpayers who have by now filed returns need not to do anything further.
Taxpayers have a set of fundamental rights they should be aware of when dealing with the IRS. The agency’s estimation is that close to 2 million people in IN should qualify for the program, but one can confirm if they qualify from the Department of Revenue’s website. H&R Block clients who have provided their e-mail address will automatically receive an e-mail notification when their tax return has been accepted by the IRS”, according to the statement.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a frequent IRS critic, on Thursday suggested the IRS computer systems might have been attacked by electronic hackers.
Nassau County officials are reporting multiple cases of people getting calls claiming that they or a family member owe money for unpaid taxes.
But the IRS said on Thursday that it had now resumed processing individual and business tax returns.
The IRS does not expect major problems with refunds.
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The IRS hasn’t yet commented on whether any taxpayer information was lost or compromised.
