In a letter to the IRS, the AICPA urged the agency to release a contingency plan that would except 100% of its employees in the event of another government shutdown.
The letter notes that the IRS has only been forced to shut down once before during the April filing season at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it caused significant harm to taxpayers, required extraordinary tax relief measures and resulted in heightened IRS inventory levels that continue to this day.
The letter added that even the 2019 government shutdown — which ended immediately before the tax filing season began — placed significant strain on the entire tax system.
“The consequences of furloughing IRS employees, reducing taxpayer and practitioner services, and introducing the prospect for prolonged or widespread technology disruptions could prove to be detrimental to the success of the filing season currently underway and the effective and timely implementation of recent legislative changes,” said the AICPA in the letter. Read more.