The IRS does not completely close for all of 2025, but it does experience significant service reductions due to a government shutdown in late 2025 and an annual e-filing "blackout" period. While essential services continue, walk-in centers are closed during shutdowns, and e-filing for 2025/2026 shuts down around Dec. 26, 2025, to prepare for the next season.
IRS resumes normal activities following the 2025 lapse in appropriations | Internal Revenue Service.
The IRS will begin accepting 2025 tax returns on Jan. 26, when the agency officially opens the 2026 tax filing season. “The Internal Revenue Service is ready to help taxpayers meet their tax filing and payment obligations during the 2026 filing season,” said IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano.
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.
Here's a summary of key changes for the 2025 tax year. The seven federal tax brackets (10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, 37%) are now permanent. Standard deductions increased, plus a new “bonus” deduction for older adults. Child tax credit increased to $2,200 per qualifying child.
Yes, many individual provisions of the Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) from 2017 are set to expire at the end of 2025, reverting tax law to pre-2017 levels unless Congress acts, with key changes including the standard deduction, SALT deduction cap, and estate tax rules set to change, although legislation like the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA) has since extended some of these cuts into the future, changing the original expiration cliff.
Audit risk in 2025 is driven by both individual behavior and IRS algorithms. Common triggers include high income, unusually large deductions, unreported freelance income, filing errors, and business classification issues.
From October 1 to November 12, 2025, the federal government of the United States was shut down as Congress failed to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year.
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.
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.
Income tax refund delays in 2025 (for the 2024 tax year) happen due to errors, fraud protection, claiming specific credits like EITC/ACTC (held until mid-Feb by law), missing info, or general IRS review, with increased scrutiny on identity theft and income mismatches leading to longer processing times. Common culprits include wrong SSNs, math errors, incomplete forms, and discrepancies with income reported by employers.
The IRS $600 rule refers to a change in reporting requirements for third-party payment apps (like Venmo, PayPal) for taxable income from goods and services, where platforms must send a Form 1099-K if you receive over $600 in a year, intended to capture gig economy/side hustle income, though delays and phased implementation have adjusted the timeline, with current rules for 2024 using a higher threshold ($5,000) before fully phasing to $600 for future years, but remember all taxable income, regardless of form, must always be reported.
The Social Security trust fund is facing a shortfall. That means benefits could be cut in 2032, not wiped out completely, but there are solutions.
The IRS started 2025 with just over 102,000 employees. As of mid-2025, the IRS has just under 76,000 employees (including employees who took an early resignation offer but are still considered “employed” through September 2025), according to a report from the National Taxpayer Advocate.
The IRS announced that the first day of the 2026 tax season is Jan. 26. People will be able to file their 2025 returns starting then.
(Additionally, for tax year 2025, the OBBB raises the standard deduction amount to $31,500 for married couples filing jointly. For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction for 2025 is $15,750, and for heads of households, the standard deduction is $23,625.)
As the shutdown continues, taxpayers should expect longer wait times and ramifications for the 2026 filing season. On October 8, 2025, the IRS began furloughing staff as well as closing most operations due to the ongoing government shutdown.
If you don't file your tax return by the October 15 extension deadline, the IRS charges a failure-to-file penalty of 5% per month (up to 25%) on unpaid taxes, plus a failure-to-pay penalty (0.5% per month), and interest on the total amount due, potentially leading to significant costs, though you can request penalty abatement for reasonable cause, and if you're owed a refund, you generally won't face penalties but risk losing your refund if you wait too long (usually over 3 years).
The agency estimates that real gross domestic product (GDP), which has been adjusted to remove the effects of inflation, will be lower in the fourth quarter of 2025 than it would have been in the absence of a shutdown.
During a shutdown: Live assistors on IRS phone lines and at Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) are unavailable. Only automated toll-free telephone applications and online self-help via IRS.gov remain operational.
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.
Not reporting all of your income is an easy-to-avoid red flag that can lead to an audit. Taking excessive business tax deductions and mixing business and personal expenses can lead to an audit. The IRS mostly audits tax returns of those earning more than $200,000 and corporations with more than $10 million in assets.