IRS employee emergency news

Furloughed employees may become eligible for unemployment compensation. State unemployment compensation requirements differ. Some states require a one-week waiting period before an individual qualifies for payments. In general, the law of the state in which an employee’s last official duty station in Federal civilian service was located will be the State law that determines eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits. The Department of Labor’s website provides general information about unemployment compensation at How Do I File for Unemployment Insurance? and links to individual state offices at Unemployment benefits, CareerOneStop. Agencies or employees should submit questions to the appropriate state (or District of Columbia) office.

Employees are required to pay back all unemployment benefits that they received. Unemployment compensation is taxable; however, if you repay any of it in the year you receive it, you will subtract the amount you repaid from the total amount you received and include the difference as taxable income.

When you return to work, you must immediately contact your state agency to notify them and make arrangements to pay back your monies if/when applicable. If excepted employees are trying to collect unemployment compensation, they will be required to complete a questionnaire with your state each week.

You don't need prior approval to perform Outside Employment (OE) activities as long as the activity is in compliance with the 10th Principle of Ethical Conduct for Federal Employees, the IRS Outside Employment Guidelines, and the IRS Ethics Handbook. You may not perform prohibited OE activities as stated in the guidelines and Chapter 10 of the handbook. If you continue to perform an authorized OE activity after returning to IRS duty/pay status, you must promptly submit a request via the Outside Employment System. Note: If you started and stopped a permitted OE activity, which was only performed during the furlough period, please do not submit an OE request.

Please refer to the TSP website to see how to withdrawal from your TSP. If you are in non-pay status, the TSP allows for the suspension of loan payments to prevent your loan from going into default. Normally, we require documentation from your agency or service. However, the TSP does not need documentation of your furlough at this time.

If your loan payments were up to date prior to the furlough, missing one or two payments will not cause your loan to be in default. You can check the status of your loan by logging into My Account, selecting “TSP Loans,” and then selecting “Are my payments up to date?” Or you can call the Thrift Line at 877-968-3778 and speak to a Participant Service Representative.

As long as retroactive pay is approved, all missed loan payments will be submitted and posted to your loan. We will provide more information as the furlough continues or as events change.

See the TSP loan site for more information.

Your coverage will continue uninterrupted throughout the shutdown. You do not need to take any additional steps for coverage to continue. If your FEHB was not cancelled during the shutdown, then there is no break in coverage so there is no break in the five-year coverage rule.

The effects of a non-pay status (which includes furlough, leave without pay, absence without leave, and suspension) on Federal employee benefits and programs vary based on current law and regulation. For additional information, see OPM’s fact sheets.

For employees who are not exempt from the furlough, all paid leave or other paid time off is cancelled during a period when a lapse in appropriations is in effect. Paid leave or other paid time off is also cancelled during a lapse in appropriations for employees who are designated as excepted but are not activated during the furlough. There is no authority to obligate funds for paid time off during a lapse in appropriations.

Leave during a Shutdown/Recall: Further instructions will be forthcoming - employees cannot officially forfeit leave until after the 2025 calendar year ends and will be addressed at a later date. Do not submit Form 9202 at this time. Once instructed, employees who cannot use all their previously scheduled and approved use-or-lose may request restoration if they meet the eligibility requirements in accordance with IRM 6.630.1.3.3.   If the leave was properly scheduled in advance, the IRS will restore any annual leave that was forfeited because of the lapse in appropriations.

If you submitted a retirement application and the IRS is furloughed due to a government shutdown, the shutdown will not affect your ability to retire provided you meet eligibility requirements. However, there may be a delay in the processing of your retirement application and receiving your first interim annuity payment and/or lump sum annual leave payment.

Employees may postpone their retirement date until the government re-opens only if the effective date has not yet passed. You should notify your manager in writing for approval. After receiving approval from your manager, send an email to hco.rps.cdf@irs.gov with a cc: to your manager. Please include your intention to change your retirement date as well as your current and new retirement effective date. RPS will notify you via email if your request has been approved.

We will update with the new dates accordingly. W-2 Forms for 2025 are expected to be available on the Employee Personal Page (EPP) on the NFC website and will also be mailed to employee’s address of record. The W-2 cutoff for the pay year for 2025 from NFC is pending, however it has been around PP24 historically

You will not be considered noncompliant if your IRS tax payment agreement defaulted because of an insufficient payment due to not receiving a paycheck during the government shutdown, but you should make any missed or insufficient payments as soon as possible. Contact the customer service line at 800-829-1040 to determine steps to bring your payment agreement current.

During the lapse in appropriations, Payroll Operations (Exempt staff only) is reviewing and processing lump sums for separations effective Pay Period 19 and earlier. Processing began Monday, Oct. 27, but no completion date is available due to the high volume of separations. Annual leave lump sum payments may be delayed or adjusted if separated employees have any outstanding financial obligations, including monies owed to the government for:

• payroll debts
• advanced annual leave
• outstanding travel advances
• debts resulting from unreturned property and equipment
• relocation monies received
• outstanding emergency salary payments