The IRS announced on November 19, 2025, that it has resumed normal operations following the shutdown.
Unlike previous government shutdowns, more than half of the agency’s 39,982 employees were retained on regular pay. This was possible through the IRS’ activation of the Fiscal Year 2026 Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan. This plan authorized Inflation Reduction Act funds for use in keeping certain IRS functions operating during the shutdown. During the first five days, essential taxpayer services, enforcement, and IT functions remained active. Beyond that, many employees were furloughed, only to be called back after the shutdown ended.
What activities continued during the shutdown?
- Implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
- Preparation for 2026 filing season
- Payment processing
- Issuance of disaster relief transcripts
- Scaled-down telephone customer service
What activities were halted during the shutdown?
- Non-electronically filed tax return refund processing
- Audits
- Non-automated collections
- Taxpayer Assistance Centre (TAC) appointments
- Processing of and responding to most paper correspondence
The IRS is currently processing return and correspondence backlogs, as well as preparing for the 2026 tax season. To add some context, the 2019 government shutdown landed the IRS with 5 million pieces of mail to process once the shutdown was over.
The agency has provided guidance to taxpayers and tax professionals. This includes processing times for individual and business returns filed electronically. The processing time is usually 21 days.
The current timeframe for returns sent by mail/courier is as follows [1]:
Form 1040 series
- Original filed during October 2025
- Amended filed during August 2025
Forms 1120 series and Form 1041
- Original filed during September 2025
- Amended filed during March 2025
FAQs about the resumption of activities have been set up for the following areas:
Information about Taxpayer Advocate Service offices, Tax Exempt and Government Entities’ Retirement Plans, and IRS processing of applications for tax-exempt status is also available.
The current timeframe for processing general correspondence is as follows:
- Individual: July 2025
- Business: March 2025
- Other: June 2025
[1] For a comprehensive list of tax form processing statuses please see here. No information regarding international information return processing times are included in the list.
