Government Could Enter Shutdown Soon: Will You Still Have to Pay Taxes?

A measure to keep the government funded and avert a shutdown passes in the House but has only a few days to pass in the Senate and prevent widespread pain for taxpayers.

Thomas is a native of upstate New York and a graduate of the University at Albany. As a member of CNET’s How To team, he writes about the intersection of policy, information and technology, and how you can best be served in that area. Outside of work, he can most often be found watching too many movies, reading too much, drinking too much coffee, or spending time with his cats.

It’s a day ending in -y in Washington, DC, so that means there’s drama about a potential government shutdown, this time in the heart of tax season. This certainly has me thinking, and maybe a lot of you as well, about whether you even have to pay taxes when the government closes up shop.

The US government has shut down or suffered funding gaps of a day or longer 20 times, all in the past 50 years. The most recent shutdown lasted 34 days, spanning the end of 2018 into the start of 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term, while most of the other shutdowns have lasted a day or a few days. 

None of these shutdowns, though, have come during tax season, at least not smack in the middle of the season. The deadline to pass a funding bill is only a few days away now, with a measure to keep the government funded through Sept. 30 having passed in the House. It now heads to the Senate, where the potential pushback against it from Democrats could prevent it from passing.

This has created many questions about how the IRS would be affected by a shutdown during this pivotal time of year, and, as I’ve written about previously, delays seem inevitable. We can only guess at the full scope. 

Should a shutdown kick off in a few days and possibly stretch on for multiple weeks toward the April 15 tax filing deadline, read on to find out what you’ll still have to do with your taxes. For more tips and coverage, find out what happens if your tax professional makes a mistake and how likely Elon Musk’s ‘DOGE dividend’ payments really are.

When is the deadline for government funding?

Congress has until the end of the day on March 14 to pass a new government budget, or at least a temporary continuing resolution, which will go into effect once signed by Trump.

Do I still have to pay taxes during a government shutdown?

Short answer: yep! Sorry to break it to you, but not even a government shutdown will relieve you of this burden. Death and taxes and so forth. 

According to a document released by the Idaho Bar Association (PDF), although a shutdown would leave the IRS “severely limited,” the underlying tax law that requires you to pay up will remain in effect “and all taxpayers should continue to meet their tax obligations as normal.” 

“Yes, even with a government shutdown, the US Treasury still expects everybody to be sending in payments,” Jassen Bowman, an enrolled IRS agent, explained to CNET in an email. “While all other correspondence will stop … self-employed individuals will still be held responsible for making their estimated tax payments during a shutdown, and small business owners most certainly should continue making their Federal Tax Deposits.”

And if you’ve thought about maybe testing the government’s commitment to this, Bowman recommends that you not fool around and find out.

“While the government may shut down and stop providing essential services, the legal obligation to still file and pay our taxes is an obligation we will certainly be reminded about in a harsh manner if we don’t,” he wrote.

Will a government shutdown delay the tax deadline?

Nope, not getting a break on this count either.

Should the government shut down later this week, you can still expect the deadline for your tax return to be April 15, unless lawmakers choose to delay it. Your deadline might have already been pushed back, however, if you live somewhere affected by a recent natural disaster. As a rule, just assume that any tax deadline will not be altered automatically by a shutdown.

What sort of IRS functions stop during a government shutdown?

As Bowman alluded to, a government shutdown will unfortunately halt a lot of other important services and processes at the IRS. If you’re in the middle of an audit, appeal or any sort of case requiring a meeting with the agency, those will most likely be canceled. Any sort of legal counsel services the IRS provides will stop for as long as the government shuts down.

Tax Assistance Centers across the country, which provide help to taxpayers on a walk-in basis, will be closed during a shutdown. You can also expect all IRS services tied to live telephone assistance, such as customer service chats, to be unavailable.

For more, get all the details on why the penny’s days might be numbered.