'Extraordinarily angry and very upset taxpayers': IRS faces chaotic tax season amid shutdown

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The public, meanwhile, will be filing for the first time under Republicans’ sweeping tax overhaul, H.R. 1, and many will surely be confused by changes made as part of the biggest tax code rewrite in a generation. At the same time, even experts are unsure whether workers have had the correct amount of taxes withheld from their paychecks, which could mean that many people accustomed to receiving refunds may instead owe the IRS.

“The politicians are playing with dynamite if something goes wrong during filing season,” said former IRS Commissioner Larry Gibbs, who served during the Reagan administration. “If you don’t pay refunds to people who are expecting them on a timely basis, all hell breaks loose.”

“You have extraordinarily angry and very upset taxpayers.”

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Taxpayers will be confronting — many for the first time — a welter of changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Gone are familiar features like personal exemption. And though they may not realize it yet, millions will no longer claim breaks for things like their mortgage interest and charitable contributions, thanks to a newly enlarged standard deduction designed to simplify filing.

People without health insurance may be surprised to learn they are still on the hook when it comes to Obamacare’s so-called individual mandate. Republicans killed the requirement to carry insurance as part of their tax law, but they delayed the repeal for one year — which means millions are supposed to pay the penalty for failing to have coverage one more time. The penalty is $695 per person or 2.5 percent of income, whichever is larger.

... more at https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2019/01/24/irs-tax-returns-government-shutdown-1121839

Does anyone else think that this shutdown is to create added confusion?