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Despite 70,000 Furloughed IRS Workers, White House Vows¹ Refunds² Will Be Issued

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The IRS is one of the federal agencies affected⁴ by the partial government shutdown. And many taxpayers⁵ may feel it's not too big a loss, but it's causing a lot of uncertainty⁶ as tax filing season approaches. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.

BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE⁷: It's nearing the time of year when many of us start receiving our W-2 forms and begin to search through the files, or shoeboxes, for the receipts and other documents in that annual chore known as filing our taxes. The big tax-preparing companies are already running TV commercials promoting their services despite the shutdown.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Hi, Lina (ph). Is now a good time to go through your tax return line by line together?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Lina) Yeah, line by line sounds awesome⁸. And please take your time.

NAYLOR: But this tax filing season may not be all that awesome for many taxpayers. The partial government shutdown has furloughed some 70,000 IRS employees at a crucial moment.

STEVEN MILLER⁹: It always was going to be a stretch for a very stretched IRS to meet this date. This can't help.

NAYLOR: Steven Miller is a former IRS commissioner¹⁰. Remember that big tax cut approved by Congress and the president? This is the first time it will be reflected in most people's tax returns. Miller says the IRS already had its hands full preparing for all the changes - updating its computer software and writing new paper forms. And while that work is likely being done by the IRS personnel who remain on the job, Miller says there is a lot of other work that isn't.

MILLER: The other piece that will harm folks is the readiness of forms, the readiness of guidance, the readiness of people on the phone. Even if the phone's open, whether those people will be sufficiently¹¹ trained to help folks or not is a real issue in my mind.

NAYLOR: Another thing the IRS isn't doing now is conducting any audits¹² or other types of enforcement. But Miller says fear not. The agency is taking your money.

MILLER: For example, if you paid - or were about to pay your January 15 estimated tax payment, as I did this past weekend, they are more than happy to accept that money. If you were owed a refund³ of some kind because your tax year ended, and this is the time for that refund - not so fast getting that money back out.

NAYLOR: Last year the IRS paid more than $212 billion in refunds in the first three months of the year - an average of almost $2,900. OMB acting¹³ director Russell Vought told reporters today that tax refunds will go out despite the shutdown. Former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen says for many people receiving a timely refund may not be a matter of life or death. But for some low-income taxpayers, their refund is a big deal.

JOHN KOSKINEN: Obviously if it goes for some period of time, and lower-income people are denied their refund, which are oftentimes the biggest financial event in the year for them, you may create a crisis in particular situations. But for the vast majority of people who receive refunds, the delay is not a life-threatening issue.

NAYLOR: The IRS may decide to bring back some of their furloughed workers as the tax filing season nears. But so far the agency has been tight-lipped about its plans. The House plans to bring up a measure tomorrow to fund the agency through the rest of the fiscal¹⁴ year - a move likely to be opposed by Senate Republicans and the White House. Brian Naylor, NPR News, Washington.

1 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

2 refunds   

n.归还，偿还额，退款( refund的名词复数 )v.归还，退还( refund的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Tomorrow he would return them to the store and claim refunds. 明天他要把它们退还给商店并要求退款。 来自辞典例句
• The new method means that taxpayers get refunds much faster. 这种新办法意味着纳税人可以较快地领到退还款。 来自辞典例句

3 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

6 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

9 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

10 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

11 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

12 audits   

n.审计，查账( audit的名词复数 )v.审计，查账( audit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Requires that use of all bond funds is subject to independent audits. 需要使用的所有债券基金是受独立审计。 来自互联网
• Support the locations during customer-visits, audits and quality-improvement programs. 支持客户参观，稽核和提高品质等项目。 来自互联网

13 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

14 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。