Politics

The IRS is sending mass furlough notices to employees and shuttering most of its operations, now that a government shutdown has extended beyond its initial contingency plan.

The agency posted on its website Wednesday morning that, “due to the lapse in appropriations, most IRS operations are closed.”

The IRS, which is preparing for next year’s filing season, kept all its employees on the job for the first five business days of the shutdown. Its contingency plans, however, didn’t specify what would happen if a lapse in funding extended beyond Oct. 7.

According to the agency, an “IRS-wide furlough” began Wednesday, “for everyone except already-identified excepted and exempt employees.”

It’s not clear which employees will keep working at this point. The IRS hasn’t posted an updated contingency plan yet.