Yes, the IRS was closed on January 9, 2025, as part of a federal government closure for the National Day of Mourning in honor of former President Jimmy Carter. Due to this closure, the IRS granted taxpayers an extra day to file returns or pay taxes originally due on January 9, pushing the deadline to January 10, 2025.
According to the IRS release—IR-2025-05 (January 8, 2025)—the IRS granted the extra time following the December 29, 2024 presidential proclamation marking January 9, 2025 as a national day of mourning for James Earl Carter, Jr., the 39th President of the United States.
The IRS e-file shutdown 2025 begins on Friday, December 26, 2025, at 11:59 A.M. Eastern Time. During this annual maintenance period, the IRS takes its electronic tax filing system offline to update systems and prepare for the new tax year. The IRS announced it will officially reopen e-file on January 26, 2026.
Monday, Jan. 26, 2026 is opening day for the 2026 tax filing season. This is when taxpayers can begin filing their 2025 federal tax returns.
The IRS closes for all standard U.S. federal holidays, including New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday, Washington's Birthday (Presidents' Day), Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day, meaning offices and phone lines are generally closed, though sometimes the days before or after Christmas might have limited service, notes OPM.gov and IRS.gov.
After the death of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29, President Joe Biden declared Thursday, Jan. 9 a National Day of Mourning.
Holiday Leave
Yes, U.S. citizens living abroad must generally file U.S. income tax returns and report their worldwide income, but can often use exclusions like the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) or Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) to reduce or eliminate U.S. tax liability on foreign earnings, though filing is still required to claim these benefits. Key requirements include filing if gross income exceeds thresholds and reporting foreign bank accounts (FBAR/FATCA) if applicable, even if no tax is owed.
There's no benefit to waiting to file your 2025 taxes on Tax Day, April 15, 2026. There are many benefits to filing your taxes early, however. Benefits include receiving your tax refund sooner, avoiding penalties and long lines, and keeping your identity safer from fraud.
Here's a summary of key changes for the 2025 tax year.
The main 2025 tax refund delay reasons include errors or incomplete information on returns, claims for the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit, identity verification processes, amended returns, and offsets for outstanding debts. Paper returns and bank processing times can also contribute to delays.
For instance, certain deadlines falling on or after Dec. 9, 2025, and before May 1, 2026, are granted additional time to file. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until May 1, 2026, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.
The President has issued an executive order that all executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed on 9 January 2025, as a mark of respect for James Earl Carter, Jr., the thirty-ninth President of the United States.
IRS resumes normal activities following the 2025 lapse in appropriations. Nov. 19, 2025 — The IRS has resumed normal operations following the conclusion of the government shutdown, including reopening the agency's Taxpayer Assistance Centers.
The Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system will be closed on Thursday, January 9, 2025 as a mark of respect for the thirty-ninth President of the United States, James Earl Carter, Jr., pursuant to Executive Order Providing for the Closing of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal ...
Living in the UK as a U.S. citizen means filing taxes in both the U.S. and the UK. According to HMRC data, over 166,000 Americans call the UK home, and each one faces the challenge of dual tax compliance.
Even if you're living overseas, US taxes still apply to you. In fact, you may owe taxes in the country where you're living and in the US. However, your tax responsibilities depend on your income and how long you've lived outside the country.
At a glance: The gift giver pays any gift tax owed, not the receiver. You don't have to report gifts to the IRS unless the amount exceeds $19,000 in 2025. Any gifts exceeding $19,000 in a year must be reported and contribute to your lifetime exclusion amount.
The "20k rule" refers to the traditional IRS threshold for reporting income from payment apps and online marketplaces on Form 1099-K: over $20,000 in gross payments AND more than 200 transactions in a calendar year. While a law (the American Rescue Plan) temporarily lowered the threshold to $600, recent legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) (OBBBA), has reinstated the $20,000/200-transaction rule for tax years starting in 2025, providing relief for casual sellers and gig workers.
The IRS can take some of your paycheck
The IRS determines your exempt amount using your filing status, pay period and number of dependents. For example, if you're single with no dependents and make $1,000 every two weeks, the IRS can take up to $538 of your check each pay period.
The IRS 7-year rule primarily applies to keeping records for claiming a deduction for bad debts or losses from worthless securities, allowing a longer period to file for a credit or refund, but it's not a universal audit limit; it's often a recommended safe buffer for general record-keeping, with the standard IRS audit period usually being 3 years, extending to 6 years for substantial income omission (over 25%) or foreign income issues, and indefinitely for fraud.
Federal Government Closure on Thursday, January 9, 2025
As the Nation mourns the loss of President James Earl Carter, Jr., President Joseph R.
The fifty-nine-minute rule purportedly emanates from a provision in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that gives agencies the discretion to forgive brief absences when employees otherwise would have to be overcharged leave in minimum increments.