As of October 1, 2013, the government shutdown is in effect. Good news, the IRS is closed. Right?
The government shutdown, however, does not mean that you get a free pass from filing and paying your taxes. During the government shut down all tax laws remain in effect, and all taxpayers should continue to meet their tax obligations, including timely filing of the extended tax returns by October 15, 2013. During the government shutdown, the IRS will continue to accept and process all tax returns with payments but will not issue refunds.
All IRS assistance centers and telephone customer service lines will be closed. All IRS audits and collection activities are suspended. Taxpayers with appointments related to audits, collection, Appeals or Taxpayer Advocate cases should assume their meetings are cancelled.
More than 3,500 of Criminal Investigation (CI) employees will continue to report to work. IRS Criminal Investigation function, which is working about 4,600 active criminal tax investigations, will basically continue operating at normal levels because federal courts, federal prosecutors and federal law enforcement partners are operating with business as usual, at least, for now.