IRS recalls 46K staff to handle tax returns

Employees will return as soon as possible, but will not receive any pay

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is recalling about 46,000 of its employees furloughed by the government shutdown — nearly 60 percent of its workforce — to handle tax returns and pay out refunds. The employees won’t be paid.

With the official start of the tax filing season coming Jan. 28, the Trump administration has promised that taxpayers owed refunds will be paid on time, despite the disruption in government services caused by the partial shutdown now in its fourth week. There had been growing concern that the shutdown would delay refunds going out because the money wouldn’t be available for them from Congress.

Last week, the administration said customary shutdown policies will be reversed to make the money available and on-time refund payments possible.

An IRS document detailing its new shutdown plan shows that 46,052 agency employees, of the total workforce of 80,265, will be called back to work. It says the plan will take effect as soon as the Treasury Department issues an official notice.

About three-quarters of U.S. taxpayers receive annual refunds, giving them an incentive to file their returns early. Many lower-income people count on refunds as their biggest cash infusion of the year.

The issue is politically sensitive. The massive tax law enacted by Republicans in Congress in late 2017, which is President Donald Trump’s signature legislative achievement, gave generous tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest Americans, and more modest reductions to middleand low-income households. The law is expected to bring lower taxes for 2018 for the great majority of Americans, and the refunds are a big tangible part of that.

Trump told supporters on a conference call Tuesday that his administration has been working to minimize the painful impacts of the shutdown. “People are actually amazed that, with this many people, that government is really working so well. So we’re very proud of that,” he said.