PUEBLO – The Internal Revenue Service is just one of many agencies affected by the current government shutdown which could cause some headaches for taxpayers.
Angela Casper, a longtime accountant and owner of Angela’s Tax Service in Pueblo, said the shutdown could delay tax refunds this year if a deal isn’t reached soon.
“They count on that money. They count on the earned income credit,” said Casper who knows just how important tax refunds are to her clients.
“Some people use it as savings so they count on that money, getting that for maybe a big purchase.”
However, they could be waiting longer than usual for that extra money.
“Normally most refunds, as long as there’s no flag that the IRS wants to look at, come within two to three weeks…I’m thinking this year it could be three to four weeks.”
Casper said because of the shutdown the IRS has a “lack of employees, lack of staffing, budget cuts…it will most likely mean delays. Usually by now we know when e-File is going to open for the year. We have not heard yet.”
In the meantime, her business is ready for anything.
“We’ll be ready to prepare people’s taxes. We may not be able to e-File them, but we can prepare them and have them ready to go.”
She’s asking all taxpayers to do the same because even though the government has halted deadlines for filing taxes remain the same: April 15.
“Get your papers in order. Bring them to your tax preparer so that as soon as it opens you’ll be ready to file.”
