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Online Tax Filers Will Get Extension After IRS Payment Website Outage (cnbc.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the last-minute dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: The IRS will give last-minute filers additional time to file their tax returns after the page for paying their tax bills using their bank accounts crashed, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Associated Press. The IRS "Direct Pay" page allows filers to transfer funds from their checking or savings account to pay what they owe. As of 5 p.m. ET on April 17 -- Tax Day -- the page was still unavailable. Direct Pay is a free service. The "Payment Plan" page, where filers can pay their tax bill in installments also appears to have crashed. "I'd strongly advise folks who owe any federal taxes and cannot pay online to mail a check or money order to the IRS to the appropriate address," said Patrick Thomas, director of Notre Dame Law School's Tax Clinic. According to a TurboTax spokesperson, the IRS's technical difficulties are affecting all tax preparers and tax returns. "Taxpayers should go ahead and continue to prepare and file their taxes as normal with TurboTax," the spokesperson said. "TurboTax has uninterrupted service and is available and accepting e-filed returns," she said. "We will hold returns until the IRS is ready to begin accepting them again." H&R Block said it will continue to accept returns from filers.

39 comments

  1. Good new for some by AndyKron · · Score: 2

    That's great news for the people who didn't get their taxes filed last February like I did.

    1. Re:Good new for some by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

      I would rather keep my money as long as possible instead of giving it to the Government early.

    2. Re:Good new for some by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      I totally understand why the IRS is extending the deadline. It's just good customer service (which they don't necessarily have a reputation for). I'm sure it saves a lot of effort to just wait and receive electronic payment vs having to physically handle the paper checks in the mail. And lord knows nobody at the IRS wants to inadvertently make eye contact with the Orange God, lest they become his newest weapon of mass distraction.

      That said, I spent too many years working in the college computer lab dealing with procrastinating students freaking out because the printer was broken or the network was down. "What do you mean? Can't you fix it? I have a paper that's due in 10 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!! I need you to write me a note for my professor". There's a part of me that really wants the IRS to just say "well what have you been doing the last two and a half months?"

    3. Re:Good new for some by Ichijo · · Score: 1

      What has the IRS been doing the last two and a half months? Not load testing their payment servers, that's for sure!

      --
      Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
    4. Re:Good new for some by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just because you file doesn't mean you pay. I filed in Feb, sent payment with the payment voucher last week via snailmail.

      In my case, I owned the IRS but my state owned me. So filing earlier mean I could get my state return right away.

    5. Re:Good new for some by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      When were they supposed to load test their servers? They had to keep them up and running so that everyone who didn't procrastinate was able to pay their taxes.

    6. Re:Good new for some by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's great news for the people who didn't get their taxes filed last February like I did.

      I did mine back in early March (via the IRS's own freefillableforms.com). But, since I owed money, the date I picked for the IRS to withdraw the funds was today - and that withdrawal hasn't happened yet, which very well might be due to these problems.

      So your implication that this only impacts last-minute filers is not necessarily accurate.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    7. Re:Good new for some by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      In my case, I owned the IRS but my state owned me.

      If your state owns you, shouldn't they be the one paying the federal tax?

    8. Re:Good new for some by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Smart! But you should have paid today via snailmail! Stick it to the MAN!

    9. Re:Good new for some by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

      When were they supposed to load test their servers? They had to keep them up and running so that everyone who didn't procrastinate was able to pay their taxes.

      Before January 29, 2018, when the fileable 2017 tax forms were finalized and released.

      I love how some believe that it's unreasonable to expect the government to load test and reliably operate their servers, but reasonable to expect people to do their taxes before a deadline because the government might screw things up. Fortunately, they're not in charge, and there's actual grown-ups running the IRS.

    10. Re:Good new for some by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      It's nice to see the IRS doing The Right Thing, but it doesn't affect me at all because I haven't needed to file in years. I'm living on Social Security and VA disability and none of that's taxable.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    11. Re:Good new for some by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      I love how some people believe that jokes are serious.

    12. Re:Good new for some by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In my case, I owned the IRS but my state owned me.

      If your state owns you, shouldn't they be the one paying the federal tax?

      No. If the state truly owns you then they would not owe anything to a third party, certainly not the feds. The fact that taxes must be paid to the feds makes it clear that the feds own you, or at least that they have a partial claim to you.

      Personally, the whole thing seems wrong to me, but then I've never been big on slavery, despite its popularity among the slaves.

    13. Re:Good new for some by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When you posted those screenshots of the money you made spamming Slashdot with amzn links, I passed them along to the IRS!!!
      Assuming you were actually honest with your taxes I don't think they will be able to approve your return until they have a little extra time to review the collection of links that I sent them where you describe your glorious enterprise to the Slashdot forums and your blog.

    14. Re:Good new for some by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

      I love how some people attempt to walk back poorly thought-out statements by claiming afterwards that they were only jokes.

      Your computer lab story was hilarious. Your distain for procrastinators was hysterical. The intended humor really shines through.

    15. Re:Good new for some by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      ... and at some point during the wee hours of February 18, the IRS finally got around to carving its pound of flesh out of our checking account.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    16. Re:Good new for some by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      Wow, so you really couldn't tell that the "when were they supposed to load test" post was a joke? I thought it was pretty fucking obvious, yet there you are responding with a serious rebuttal.

      Speaking of which, your rebuttal was essentially to say it's a good thing people like me weren't in charge of the IRS. So going back to my first post, clearly you must not understand what the phrase "there's a part of me" means. You must be under the mistaken impression it means "defy all logic and reason and let my personal pet peeve dictated our course of action". In that context your reply makes sense. However, for those of us who know what the phrase really means, your post makes little sense. Essentially you said it's a good thing that the IRS isn't being run by people who would have made the exact same decision as the people actually running the IRS.

    17. Re:Good new for some by Daralantan · · Score: 1

      I did mine in January... and have been entertained while working for a bank at the people shrieking about their taxes 1-2 days before deadline.

    18. Re:Good new for some by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, so you really couldn't tell that the "when were they supposed to load test" post was a joke? I thought it was pretty fucking obvious

      That read less like a joke and more serious with a dash of snark.

    19. Re:Good new for some by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      In California definitely,

    20. Re:Good new for some by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, look at these morons. I paid my taxes ovar a year ago.

    21. Re:Good new for some by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I did mine back in early March (via the IRS's own freefillableforms.com). But, since I owed money, the date I picked for the IRS to withdraw the funds was today - and that withdrawal hasn't happened yet, which very well might be due to these problems.

      So your implication that this only impacts last-minute filers is not necessarily accurate.

      And accountants, some of the most conservative people on the planet, don't schedule things for the last minute. They always schedule payments a few days early because crap happens. Because well, crap always happens.

      So they'd schedule a payment a few days prior, because who knows what can happen. The payment system can go down. Or perhaps the payments get delayed (electronic transfers, while generally instant, can occasionally get "lost" in the system, so the money may have come out of the account, but it's not actually posted into the recipient's account yet).

      Or better yet, perhaps your account gets locked because of suspicious transactions. Far better to have a few days to sort things out than have to scramble with the banks on the day the payment goes out.

      They always have a "just in case" ready.

      And you know what? Those that paid a few days early wouldn't have been stressed out the few hours realizing they couldn't make a payment and having to scramble to find an alternative way to pay or hope an amnesty would be announced.

      Evils of government and all, but the few cents of interest you'd make just isn't worth the added stress then crap happens. Giving yourself a few extra days to sort things out is a godsend when you're ending up spending hours on the phone.

    22. Re:Good new for some by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

      hat read less like a joke and more serious with a dash of snark.

      What he or she said. I am not alone, so perhaps you should reflect a bit more carefully.

    23. Re:Good new for some by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can file early and schedule the payment to be taken out in April. That's what I did.

    24. Re:Good new for some by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      I couldn't resist sending the money on Friday the 13th. (I had an unexpected stock sale due to an acquisition, and the capital gains threw off my tax planning big-time.)

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  2. Good for Trump! by Kenja · · Score: 1

    'cause he's not gotten his taxes done yet.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Good for Trump! by LordKronos · · Score: 2

      It really makes no difference to him. Debts discharged in bankruptcy are not taxable income, so he's got nothing to report and nothing due.

    2. Re:Good for Trump! by AceViper · · Score: 1

      The second part of your statement may be true, but I doubt the first part is. It makes a difference, just not for that reason.

  3. Suckers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I paid my taxes last year.

    1. Re:Suckers by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      You messed it up:
      https://youtu.be/ZnJcZ-5P8hE?t...

  4. With indemnification? by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

    TurboTax has uninterrupted service and is available and accepting e-filed returns," she said. "We will hold returns until the IRS is ready to begin accepting them again." H&R Block said it will continue to accept returns from filers.

    So TurboTax and H&R Block are willing to accept money! And get paid on putting that money to work between now and when the IRS "accepts" it, presumably via the same website. Now, the question is, if the IRS charges late fees, but TurboTax/H&R Block accepted the cash, will they pay the late fees?

    Right now it's me, but in a few months it may be class-action-lawyers who want to know.

    --
    Your ad here. Ask me how!
  5. Tax forms are getting later and later by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I received my last tax form mid-March this year. Then I procrastinated for two weeks as is my custom. Then I did my taxes and filed and paid what I still owed (both Federal and State). This is the latest I've ever filed my taxes but still got them done before the 15th.

    Necessary tax forms keep arriving later and later. This is the latest that tax forms have ever arrived. If this keeps up, I and millions of other Americans will be filing amendments AFTER taxes are due. Oy vey.

    1. Re: Tax forms are getting later and later by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd report to the IRS whatever employer or financial institution was late delivering their tax forms to you. I'm pretty sure by law or other regulation they are supposed to have those forms in your possession around the end of Jan. A week or two late is one thing but mid March is just gross negligence, especially if you have a complicated tax situation that requires an appointment with a CPA or Tax attorney to take care of

    2. Re: Tax forms are getting later and later by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Employment forms (W-2s and the like) are due at the end of January. Other forms are allowed to take longer. I didn't get what I needed from my brokerage account until sometime in March. (Then I did the taxes while going through colonoscopy preparations, figuring that one would take my mind off the other.)

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  6. Which is why I file early by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    Typically, in February.

    1. Re:Which is why I file early by PPH · · Score: 1

      If you owe them money?

      In hindsight, I should have filed on line this year. Instead of sending them sacks of pennies. Postage due.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  7. EFTPS same thing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    EFTPS says it's down for maintenance, try again later. Is this the same problem or is it really down for maintenance?