April 18, 2018
(AFP) - US tax authorities will give Americans an extra day to send in their tax returns after the government computer system for filing them electronically failed on the day of the deadline.
For much of Tuesday -- the last day for Americans to file their tax returns for 2017 -- online conduits for direct payments, electronic filings and filings via tax preparation companies failed.
The system eventually came back up, but the Internal Revenue Service said it now will give people until midnight Wednesday to file.
According to The Washington Post, two senior government officials said initial assessments suggested the problems stemmed from internal technology failures.
One said it appeared the system crashed because of so many people filing at the last minute.