The Federal News Network is reporting that the due to the coronavirus pandemic, the IRS issued an evacuation notice Friday afternoon directing that nearly all of its employees work from home on mandatory telework starting Monday, March 30. Only employees performing “mission-critical duties” will be permitted to come into the office. Access to IRS offices will be restricted, with employees allowed only to pick up work files and mail. Affected employees were instructed to take home whatever they needed to work remotely for the foreseeable future. The evacuation communication to employees is now available on the IRS website here.
The IRS did not make any announcement about whether call centers would continue to be staffed, or whether mail sent to service centers would be opened and processed. With this evacuation order going into effect tomorrow, it is safe to assume that it will be even more difficult to reach the IRS by telephone – including through the Practitioner Priority Service – and that significant delays in mail processing are likely.
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