When the federal government “shut down” several weeks ago, many taxpayers wondered whether they were still going to receive tax refunds this year. It goes without saying, of course, that even with a shutdown we still have to continue paying our taxes. Thankfully the tax refund situation has been clarified, so taxpayers can still expect to receive their refunds although there will undoubtedly be delays. Depending on how you file and how you choose to receive your refund, you should expect up to two months to receive your refund.
But what’s worse for taxpayers is that they may not be able to call the IRS for advice as they have in years past. With so many IRS employees currently furloughed, taxpayers who attempt to call the IRS right now for advice won’t be able to reach anyone. And with President Trump digging his heels in and preparing for months or even years of a government shutdown, taxpayers may be on their own when tax season begins on January 28.
That means that if you have tax issues with your gold IRA or want to discuss the tax implications of any distributions you want to or are required to take, you’ll want to schedule a talk with your tax adviser as soon as possible. With nearly 100 million calls in a normal tax year, the IRS spends a whole lot of time answering taxpayers’ questions. Now that all of those calls won’t be receiving responses, those people will have to find someone else to answer their questions. Tax preparers and tax advisers will likely be overwhelmed this year, which is why you need to start planning and preparing right now.
It doesn’t help matters that the tax forms have been completely redone for 2018 either, with the new 1040 replacing the old 1040, 1040A, and 1040-EZ forms. And with the schedules redone for this year too, nothing will look familiar to taxpayers this time around. That’s all the more reason to start working on your taxes early this year so that you get things done by April 15.
This article was originally posted on Goldco.
