IRS furloughs nearly half its staff amid shutdown, prompting chaos and confusion

(CNN) — The Internal Revenue Service began furloughing nearly half its staff Wednesday because of the ongoing government shutdown , sparking chaos and confusion among employees as the news rippled through agency offices around the country.

The agency said in an updated shutdown contingency plan that it was furloughing more than 34,400 of its 74,300 employees on Wednesday. Initially, the IRS said that its entire workforce would remain on the job thanks to funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But it noted in its original contingency plan that staffing would be in place only for the first five business days — and there is no sign that the shutdown that began October 1 is nearing its end.

A prolonged shutdown could cause bigger problems as the October 15 tax filing extension d