IRS Servers Down During Crucial Week

crimeandpunishment writes "A planned server outage turned into an unplanned glitch for the Internal Revenue Service, and it comes at a very bad time. The IRS planned the server outage for the holiday weekend ... but today they couldn't get the system back into operation. This week is the deadline for filing 2009 tax returns for taxpayers who got extensions. So far it's not having a huge impact since the shutdown only involves the updated version of the e-filing system, and most programs used by large tax companies like H&R Block will default to the older version. There's no estimate on when the system will be back up."

Comments

'Unplanned glitch'

[angry tapir]

Personally I like to plan my glitches.

Re:'Unplanned glitch'

[tool462]

Ditto. I schedule them for the day after I go on vacation to a remote tropical island with no cell reception or internet access.
It does two things for me:
1) I don't have to deal with fixing the glitch
2) It creates the impression that the company falls apart immediately if I'm not there.

Win freaking win, baby.

Re:Can't we just leave the IRS down permanently?

[jjohnson]

Ah, the bill purports to replace all sources of tax revenue with a national sales tax. Good luck with that.

Re:Fine the Bastards

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, when I've fucked up, they sent it back with a note saying that it appeared to be inaccurate, why it was inaccurate, and a number to call if I wanted the erroneuous one audited in lieu of correcting my mistake. All in all, not a problem, at all. Granted, it was a mistake, not fraud, but still, they were suprisingly non-hostile.

Re:Fine the Bastards

[the linux geek]

You're right that there's a double standard, but generally I'd argue that the IRS is actually pretty lenient. They give you a heads up and give you a chance to pay (eventually with modest fines) for quite a while before they start getting ugly. At that point, you may very well be SOL, but as long as you aren't deliberately trying to fuck them over there is plenty of opportunity to solve the problem with minimal inconvenience.

Re:Fine the Bastards

[Oxford_Comma_Lover]

> At that point, you may very well be SOL, but as long as you aren't deliberately trying to fuck them over there is plenty of opportunity to solve the problem with minimal inconvenience.

Usually, yes, but not always. A correction, if you make a mistake on your return, is very easy to pay, and there's no substantial penalty--nor should there be, given the complexity of the tax code. But being selected for a tax audit is about as much fun as pulling a Phineas Gage, and sometimes things that shouldn't kick one up do--for example, if you have fifteen children, the number of exemptions you claim will almost certainly cause you to be audited.

Already an old story

[astro]

Perhaps I'm just not trying to use a part of the system that is down, but I filed for an extension this year, e-filed about 3 weeks ago, and got a very clear "Down For Maintenance" message when I went to check the status of my refund yesterday. The message included an estimated date for the system to be back up (10/12 - today), and indeed it was. Poking around a little, it appears that the rest of the e-file system is also functional at this time (though I don't care enough to do an exhaustive search for broken things, having fulfilled my immediate needs).

"Holiday" weekend?

[plover]

I had to look at a calendar to figure out what the summary meant by "holiday weekend." It's hard to believe Columbus Day is still recognized by anyone after the fourth grade. 1492, Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria -- that's it. That's his entire legacy.

Really, the guy was a world-class failure. I mean if he had done his job right, these sentences would be in Italian. Even the guy who came after him managed to get the continents named for himself. Now, all he has is Columbia, and even they speak Spanish!

Re:Can't we just leave the IRS down permanently?

[jjohnson]

Okay, here's a non-FUD based criticism: sales taxes are heavily regressive. The less money you have, the more of your income is spent on taxable goods. The rich, the people who are most able to afford to pay taxes, pay an even smaller portion of their income in taxes than they would under a flat tax scheme. Contrary to the bill's stated intention of increasing class mobility, a national sales tax responsible for bearing the entire cost of the federal government would just dig the poverty trench deeper. The worse off you are now, you'll be even more worse off under a national sales tax plan. This plan would do more to obliterate the middle class and widen the gap between rich and poor than any other taxation plan available.