Sequester furloughs to shut IRS down for five days

Amid a targeting controversy, Internal Revenue Service employees will not be paid for five intermittent days - Friday, May 24 is the first - when the agency closes because of the sequester and other budget cuts.

All tax deadlines remain the same, the IRS said Wednesday in a press release. Though some online services remain available on the furlough days - May 24, June 14, July 5, July 22 and Aug. 30 - no IRS offices will be open.

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"This means that all IRS offices, including all toll-free hotlines, the Taxpayer Advocate Service and the agency's nearly 400 taxpayer assistance centers nationwide, will be closed on those days," according to the press release. "The IRS will be unable to accept or acknowledge receipt of electronically-filed returns on any day the agency is shut down."

The IRS may later announce up to two additional furlough days.

Another sequester furlough announcement came from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel who said yesterday that 680,000 civilian Pentagon employees must take 11 unpaid work days. His statement indicated a smaller cut than original reports that 800,000 people would need to take off 22 unpaid days.