Government Shutdown Delays Tax Refunds

Government Shutdown Delays Refunds – NCCPAP Demands Congressional Action

Long Island, NY – October 24, 2013– NCCPAP (National Conference of CPA Practitioners) President Ed Caine spoke at NCCPAP’s 35th anniversary dinner publicly denouncing Congress for the recent 16-day shut down in Washington which caused 90 percent of IRS operations to stall and the 2014 tax season to be pushed back by as much as two weeks. Caine stated NCCPAP’s official stance by communicating the need for Congress to act quickly to prevent the looming sequel of another closure from occurring which would further delay the 2014 tax filing season and have a devastating financial effect on Americans and the U.S. economy. NCCPAP members across the country will be reaching out to Congress to voice their opposition to another shut down.

On Tuesday the IRS issued a press release stating that it will push back the original January 21st tax filing season start date to February 4th or later. The IRS stated that the 16-day government shutdown threw off their timeline to get their systems ready for the 2014 tax filing season by almost three weeks. Before accepting its customary 150 million tax returns, the IRS takes the time between October 15th and the start of next tax season to calibrate its operations and technological systems in accordance with all new tax law changes that will be in effect.

The IRS will continue to require and accept tax payments should another shut down occur. But, as occurred earlier this month, any refunds may be delayed. Steve Mankowski, Chair of NCCPAP’s Tax Policy Committee, said, “The effect of the IRS accepting payments, but delaying refunds is the same as pulling cash out of the economy because people worried about their refunds won’t spend as much money during the holiday season.” Whether Americans use their refunds to pay off holiday debt or invest in home improvements, it is good for the economy but when refunds aren’t expected spending won’t happen and the economy weakens.

“When Americans spend less money, small businesses are hurt financially in addition to the local governments who depend on those businesses for tax revenue,” said Caine referencing the potential fallout from a second shut down. NCCPAP members feel another shut down would compound the damage by shortening their tax season and hurting Americans who need access to their refunds sooner.

NCCPAP members comprised solely of practicing CPA firms whose client stronghold are small businesses and middle income families, are concerned about the complications they are already facing from the recent government closing. The scheduled tax filing season delay adds pressure for CPAs already on a tight timeline to properly prepare tax filings. If another closure pushes back tax season by an additional two weeks, it will make the mandated tax deadlines nearly impossible for CPAs to meet. Further complicating matters, tax software required by CPAs cannot be finalized until the IRS implements their changes and issues final specifications to the software vendors. All of these issues will potentially snowball causing significant delays in tax filings

NCCPAP President Ed Caine stated, “IRS announced the delay, but the American public understands that it is Congress and the Executive Branch are the ones calling the shots. We believe they are handicapping the IRS’ ability to serve its two major stakeholders: the general public and the federal government. We believe cutting off the government’s income supply could be devastating and in order to avert significant economic effects, the IRS must stay open as usual.”

ABOUT NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CPA PRACTITIONERS (NCCPAP)

NCCPAP is a professional organization that advocates on issues that are of importance to CPAs in Public Practice throughout the United States. NCCPAP members represent over one million businesses and individual clients. NCCPAP monitors and influences tax administration and tax policy by meeting with Internal Revenue Service representatives and state taxing authorities as well as national and state elected officials. In addition, NCCPAP provides a platform for its members to exchange ideas and information on managing and running a successful CPA practice in today’s competitive environment.

http://www.nccpap.org