NPR Interviews Christopher Rizek on Tax Filing Season and Government Shutdown

Caplin & Drysdale’s Christopher Rizek spoke with NPR’s Yuki Noguchi concerning this year’s tax filing season being more stressful this year for filers and IRS workers alike due to new tax law changes and the partial government shutdown that has left the agency with roughly half its normal staff. An excerpt of the interview is below, and please visit NPR’s website to hear the audio version, then click and drag to minute 2:00.

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So what do all these complexities mean for the 150 million Americans filing individual tax returns and for those expecting refunds?

“I don’t know how that’s going to turn out,” says Christopher Rizek, a tax attorney and adjunct professor at Georgetown University. “I think everybody is hopeful, but not a lot of people are optimistic.”

He says the shutdown exacerbates a long-standing problem at the understaffed agency.

“There’s been a big brain drain at the IRS, particularly at the more senior experienced levels,” Rizek says. “Why would someone continue to work for the IRS when they can go work for an accounting firm, do the same work for more money and less stress?”