IRS resumes accepting e-filings after computer outage

A computer hardware failure knocked out tax return e-filing and other IRS system services for a second day Thursday.

The unspecified computer problems have caused the IRS to temporarily stop accepting electronically filed tax returns.

“We are continuing our work and analysis of our return processing system; we hope to have that back up again running at some point today”, the agency said. The outage could affect refunds, but the agency said it doesn’t anticipate “major disruptions”. However, those companies will hold the tax returns until the IRS fixes things on its end.

Many people opt to file their taxes online directly through the IRS. It also said that those taxpayers who have by now filed returns need not to do anything further.

IRS said that while IRS.gov is still available, the downtime for the other services will remain until tomorrow.

There is no time table for when the features will return. “The caller may threaten you with arrest or court action to trick you into making a payment”, said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

In a video released last month warning about the scams, Tim Camus, deputy inspector general for the Treasury Department, said Americans have lost more than $20 million to criminals impersonating IRS workers.

The IRS did not elaborate on what caused the outage, saying that is was “continuing to examine the underlying cause … as well as monitoring any follow-up issues”.

The IRS paid out almost $6 billion in 2013 alone to tax filers who had appropriated someone else’s identity in order to steal their refund, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The IRS remains in close contact with e-file software transmitters and the tax community during this period.

“Anyone who’s already been accepted, there’s not going to be a problem, they’re going to get their refund in the regular time frame”. “But I don’t know if you know about past year, the identity theft, so there were issues with the IRS online system also”.