US taxmen borked in computer cockup riddle

A computer system breakdown at the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has knocked web-based tax tools offline and held up processing of people's returns.

All US citizens, and tax residents in America, must file their annual tax forms by Monday, April 18 for this year. However, right now, the IRS is unable to accept many returns via the internet. Its systems are likely to remain knackered until Thursday while its techies fix the unnamed problems, we're told.

In a statement to the media, the IRS said:

Several of our systems are not currently operating, including our modernized e-file system and a number of other related systems. A number of taxpayer and tax practitioner tools are unavailable.

IRS.gov remains available, although a number of the services on the site are not, including Where’s My Refund.

We continue to expect that nine out of 10 taxpayers will receive their refunds within 21 days.

So, yes, you will still have to file that tax return on time. And, no, PRs, please don't send us press releases suggesting this is North Korea's fault.

We all know it's China's. ®