The main toll-free telephone lines are available for limited service from early Thursday morning through 4 pm Friday, August 31. Help will be available on tax law issues, but tax account information cannot be accessed or updated. The main toll-free system will be completely unavailable after 4pm, Friday, through noon ET on Tuesday, September 4.

However, the e-help desk toll-free service for tax preparers and the Practitioner Priority Service will be available. Taxpayer assistance centers can answer tax law questions, prepare returns and perform limited service on accounts. Most forms of payment can be accepted; however, cash payments cannot be accepted during the outage.

Business filers who need to obtain Employee Identification Numbers or make a Federal Tax Deposit will be unable to do so between Friday at 4pm and Tuesday at noon.