IRS Technical Difficulties Plague E-File, Other Features

So much for trying to get an early start on tax season.

The Internal Revenue Service reported Wednesday that “a number” of its tax-processing systems were unavailable following a hardware failure, and the federal agency anticipated that some of those systems would remain unavailable into today.

The IRS explained in a statement:

Several of our systems are not currently operating, including our modernized e-file system and a number of other related systems.

The IRS is currently in the process of making repairs and working to restore normal operations as soon as possible.

As of 3:30 p.m. ET today, the IRS had not issued any follow-up statements.

In addition to the e-file system, taxpayer and tax practitioner tools were affected by the technical problem. Additionally, while the IRS.gov website has remained available, some of the services available through the website — including Where’s My Refund? — were also affected.

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The agency noted:

Taxpayers can continue to prepare and file their tax returns as they normally would. Taxpayers can continue to send their tax returns to their e-file provider; these companies will hold the tax returns until the IRS resumes accepting electronic tax returns.

Taxpayers who have already filed their tax returns do not need to take any additional action.

The IRS also said it did not anticipate “major” refund disruptions and still expects that 9 in 10 taxpayers will receive their refunds within 21 days.

Taxes are due by April 18 this year due to holidays.

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