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Calls will go unanswered and mail will get no response under the IRS contingency plan for the first five days of a federal government shutdown. The plan, released Thursday, calls for furloughs of two-thirds of IRS staff if the government shuts down, resulting in "significant harmful impacts" on millions of taxpayers, Treasury said. The fiscal 2024 Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan will go into effect when the IRS is notified that government appropriations have lapsed and that a shutdown is to be initiated. All furloughed IRS employees will be able to return to work, and the Service will resume normal operations, when funds are appropriated. To avoid a shutdown, Congress must approve a budget for fiscal 2024 or a continuing resolution that keeps the government operating temporarily by Saturday, Sept. 30. If a government shutdown lasts for more than five business days, the IRS human capital officer will coordinate a Service-wide reassessment of the excepted activities. With the Oct. 16 deadline looming for some 10.5 million individual tax returns on extension, here is a look at IRS operations that would stop and those that would continue under the plan.

Reconciliation Bill Deadline Looms in Congress – Potential Impact on Corporations As negotiations continue on the fast-approaching reconciliation bill, the AICPA remains active in its advocacy efforts, which includes pushing back on the implementation of a minimum book income tax on corporations. During negotiations, major components of the reconciliation package could change or be dropped altogether from a final package while new provisions could be added. The deadline to pass a reconciliation bill is September 30; with a long August recess scheduled, there is little time to pass a bill and sign into law.

New Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) guidance from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) incorporates changes to the program made by the American Rescue Plan Act, P.L. 117-2, and establishes that entities that receive a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) cannot subsequently receive a PPP loan.

House passes PPP deadline extension in 415-3 vote.

President Joe Biden on Thursday afternoon signed into law the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill known as the American Rescue Plan Act, following a 220-211 vote of approval by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

The AICPA sent a letter Tuesday, March 9, 2021, encouraging congressional leaders to push back the Paycheck Protection Program’s (PPP’s) March 31 application deadline at least 60 days.

The House of Representatives voted 220–211 Wednesday, March 10, 2021 to approve the Senate version of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, which President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law.

The AICPA on Thursday, March 4, 2021, sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig and Acting Assistant Secretary Mark Mazur urgently asking for the deadlines for filing all 2020 federal income tax and information returns and for making payments to be extended from April 15 to June 15, 2021, in response to a number of issues that make it impossible for many taxpayers to meet the April 15 deadline.

On March 2, 2021, the AICPA called on Congress to extend the application period for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by at least 60 days.