The recent government shutdown was unique because prior funding allowed many IRS employees to remain on the job. However, after a rough year and a 43-day pause for audits, appeals, many refunds, and more, the agency is facing backlogs and other challenges.
An ‘Exempt’ Shutdown, Not an ‘Excepted’ One
During the recent shutdown, a significant portion of the IRS workforce remained on the job with regular pay, explained EY’s Kirsten Wielobob. According to the October 18 iteration of the IRS’ Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan, 39,982 employees, or 53.8% of the agency’s workforce, were retained. This included all 3,001 Criminal Investigation (CI) employees, over 4,552 Information Technology (IT) employees, and 24,470 Taxpayer Services employees.
To dig deeper, visit the original article on the Thomson Reuters blog.