Paperwork piled up at the IRS during the shutdown.
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The government shutdown—the longest ever in U.S. history—ended after 43 days following an agreement on a new funding bill. Six Democrats joined Republicans to vote yes, with the final House vote of 222 to 209. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 60-40.
While the government officially reopened on November 13, 2025, it could take weeks or even months for federal agencies to catch up. Here’s where the IRS stands right now.
Taxpayer Services to Individuals
Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) have reopened. If you opted in to text or email notifications, you may be able to reschedule your canceled appointments online. Otherwise, you’ll likely need to call to reschedule your appointment.
Audits and Exams
If you’re currently under audit, you should expect delays as IRS examiners work through backlogged mail, messages, and case files. They will confirm receipt of any documents or payments you previously sent, but if you were waiting to send any documents, now is the time. If your audit appointment was canceled, it will be rescheduled.
Letters such as audit reports, 10-day letters, and 30-day letters should be handled as usual by submitting the requested info (as indicated in your notice) or by contacting your examiner.
If you received a Statutory Notice of Deficiency, you still have 90 days to petition the Tax Court. That wasn’t extended and didn’t otherwise change during the shutdown.
If you received a Form 872 to extend the assessment period, follow the instructions and contact your examiner with any questions, keeping in mind that responses may be delayed.
Collections
Some collection activities continued throughout the shutdown. For example, statutory Notices of Deficiency issued during the shutdown remain valid, and taxpayers still have 90 days to petition the Tax Court.
The shutdown also didn’t affect filing and payment deadlines. You were still expected to file and pay on time, and interest and penalties continued to accrue. However, if you typically made in-person payments at a TAC and couldn’t because it was closed, you can apply to have penalties abated for reasonable cause.
Revenue Officers will reschedule missed appointments and process any information or payments submitted during the shutdown. If you made a levy, lien, or discharge request during that time, be patient—those reviews should resume shortly.
Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing requests are now being processed. If you submitted one during the shutdown, you should expect an update soon.
Appeals
The IRS Appeals Office is reviewing backlogged mail, messages, and case inventories. Any canceled or missed conferences will be rescheduled.
If you left a message for your Appeals Officer during the shutdown, it will be returned (it may just take a while). You can call your Appeals Officer or customer service at 855-865-3401 for urgent issues. (When you call, be ready to leave a message with your name, your tax ID number, and a number where Appeals can reach you.)
If you missed a response deadline for an answer or additional info, send it immediately. But don’t panic, since Appeals should reach out to you before taking any action.
If you’re waiting for an Appeals conference date, check with your IRS office. If more than 60 days have passed since the office reopened and there’s been no contact, call Appeals Customer Service.
And if you’re appealing to Tax Court, remember that petitions filed during or just after the shutdown will be delayed while the court clears its backlog.
Processing Status for Individual Tax Forms
The IRS reports that e-filed individual returns—including Forms 1040—are generally processed within 21 days.
For individual paper-filed Form 1040 returns, the IRS is currently processing original returns received in October 2025 and amended returns received in August 2025. The agency generally processes paper returns where a refund is expected before all other returns.
Those time frames do not include forms that require error correction or other special handling. “Special handling” can include a tax return filed on behalf of a deceased person (since the return cannot be processed through the normal automated systems), missing or incomplete forms, innocent spouse claims, and tax returns involving identity theft.
Anecdotally, some tax professionals report processing times of well over a year for returns requiring special handling.
Processing Status for Business Tax Forms
The IRS also reports that e-filed business returns—including Forms 1120, 941, and 1041—are generally processed within 21 days.
The IRS is processing paper-filed Forms 1120, 941, and 1041 received in September 2025, and amended Forms 1120, 941, and 1041 are now being processed from March 2025.
This timeframe does not include processing times for amended returns related to the Employee Retention Credit, which can take much (much) longer. And, again, those time frames do not include those that require error correction or other special handling.
Processing Status for Tax Exempt Organizations
The IRS is currently reviewing Forms 1023-EZ—the short form—submitted before October 6, 2025. The IRS claims to issue 80% of Form 1023-EZ application determinations within 22 days. If your application requires more information or further review, the IRS will reach out.
Form 1023—the long form—takes much longer to process. The IRS is now reviewing applications submitted on or before February 26, 2025. The IRS says it issues 80% of Form 1023 application determinations within 191 days.
If you submitted Form 1024 on or before April 2, 2025, your application is currently under review. The IRS claims to issue 80% of Form 1024 application determinations within 210 days. Form 1024-A applications submitted on or before April 12, 2025, are currently being processed. The IRS says that 80% of Form 1024-A application determinations are issued within 229 days.
Processing Status for Authorization Forms
Processing for Forms 2848 (Power of Attorney, or POA) and Forms 8821 (Tax Information Authorization, or TIA) currently takes about 19 business days from the date of receipt. If yours has not been processed, the IRS advises you to wait and to not to submit duplicate forms.
You can get real-time processing for POA and TIA requests with a Tax Pro Account. To request a POA, you must have authority to practice before the IRS as an attorney, certified public accountant, enrolled agent, enrolled actuary, or enrolled retirement plan agent.
Processing Status for Other Forms
The IRS is working on Form W-7 (ITIN applications) received in August 2025, Form 8802 (residency certification applications) received in September 2025, and tentative refund applications—Form 1045 for individuals and Form 1139 for corporations—received in July 2025.
For Employer Identification Number (EIN) applications on Form SS-4, the IRS notes that fax submissions received in October 2025 are processed within eight business days. Paper submissions received in September 2025 are processed within 30 days. Online submissions are generally instantaneous.
If you reported an identity theft, expect to wait quite a bit for a response. According to the IRS, Forms 14039 (Individual Identity Theft Affidavit) are currently being processed from January 2024, while Forms 14039-B (Business Identity Theft Affidavit) are being processed from June 2024.
The IRS is also catching up on correspondence. Individual general correspondence is caught up to July 2025, according to the IRS while business general correspondence is caught up to March 2025. Other correspondence—including injured spouse cases, exempt organization matters, and employee plan issues—is caught up to June 2025. Again, tax professionals (including this author) have reported significantly more extensive processing times for correspondence. Even then, some response letters are simply asking for more time to review your matter.
Tax Advocate Cases
The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) has posted a notice on its website that reads:
(The emphasis in bold is from TAS.)
What’s Next
As the IRS scrambles to catch up, some taxpayers wonder whether the upcoming tax filing season will start on time.
The IRS has been acting as though it expects to open on time. During the shutdown, some Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) stayed on the job, including approximately 3,500 new hire CSRs who were onboarded between September 22 and November 3. According to the IRS, those employees stayed on because it was “critical they remain in training during a shutdown if they are to be ready for filing season.”
The IRS is also getting ready for changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). That includes new 2025 tax forms (that you’ll file in 2026), like the new Schedule 1-A, Additional Deductions. The changes are intended to address several new provisions, including those for tipped and overtime workers. How quickly those forms are rolled out could impact the season open.
While an official start date has not been announced, the 2026 tax filing season is largely expected to be delayed until early to mid-February. Typically, the tax season begins in late January. Last year, the official 2025 tax filing season started on Monday, January 27, 2025—that was the first day the IRS began accepting and processing 2024 individual tax returns.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2025/11/20/irs-has-significant-backlogs-following-the-shutdown-whats-moving-and-whats-still-stuck/
