Government funding fight hits at IRS crunch time

Congress and the White House have a government funding deal, so they should be able to avoid too much shutdown drama. But even the risk of a brief lapse comes at the hardest possible moment for the IRS.

“We haven’t had a shutdown in March before that I’m aware of right in the middle of filing season, so the lapse plan will look different than it has in previous years,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told reporters after a speech last night. “Believe me, it’ll be disruptive. Shutdowns are very disruptive. Hope they can avoid it.”