The federal government has been back up and running for a few weeks.  However,  we are still feeling some of the impacts.  One of which we have previously mentioned- the delay of the start of the coming tax filing season. 

A more noticeable and/or significant impact is a delay in the IRS processing correspondence.  Under normal circumstances it is fairly typical for the IRS to send a letter, the taxpayer to respond, and the IRS to send back a response that we are processing your response.  However, with the shutdown the IRS may not even know that they have received a response to a previous correspondence.  It may still be sitting in a stack of correspondence somewhere.  They can them come back with their more aggressive action based upon their belief that you have not responded to them and threaten to take collection action.  The bottom line is don't be surprised if correspondence don't make a lot of sense.  Also pay close attention to them and seek professional assistance where needed.  CPA's deal with this stuff day to day.

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CPA Wilmington, NC