You will get your tax refund after all, White House says

Jan 08, 2019

By Herb Scribner

The White House says that tax refunds will be paid during the government shutdown, after all, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The IRS will pay tax refunds even as the agency is limited in its capabilities because of the government shutdown.

The White House Office of Management and Budget announced the decision Monday.

Russell Vought, the acting director of the department, said, “Tax refunds will go out,” according to Bloomberg.

This would end one of the biggest issues many modern Americans have with the shutdown, in addition to hundreds of thousands of workers not receiving pay.

Flashback: As I wrote previously, the current shutdown contingency plans limited the IRS from sending tax refunds out. The IRS could accept tax returns, but refunds would be delayed until after the shutdown ended.

Vought said this is a fix to a problem created by previous administrations.

Bigger picture: Close to 90 percent of the IRS staff won’t be working during the shutdown without pay, ABC News reports.

There’s still concern from taxpayers that the IRS won’t answer questions for them because the offices are closed.