This post is by Linda Stern of Thomson Reuters.

A threatened government shutdown won't stop Internal Revenue Service commissioner Douglas Shulman from filing his own taxes on time; they're already done. "I make sure it gets done on time," he told Reuters. "I just have to look it over." He said that taxpayers should follow that example and not expect to get any extra filing time if there is a temporary federal work stoppage.

"The IRS will be accepting tax returns," he told the National Press Club in a luncheon speech on April 6. "The American people should file their taxes and they are required to file by April 18."

Taxpayers who file electronically won't face any delay in getting their refunds if a budget stalemate does force a government shutdown, because they are processed automatically, he said. But anyone who files a paper return may find their refund delayed if the government does stop all but essential services. Reuters had previously reported that the agency would continue to deposit tax checks from filers.

Shulman has already received his return back from the certified public accountant, identified only as "Gary," whom he has used for years. "I look it over, but all that I ever say is 'Let's be more conservative,'" he said.

"I figure that as commissioner of the IRS it's a good idea for me to obey the law," he said, noting that he wouldn’t want to embarrass President Obama or the Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, who had his own problems with his tax return before he took that office.

Shulman outlined his vision for the tax filing season in the future, when the IRS would be able to pre-populate taxpayers’ forms with data from their 1099 and W-2  before anyone filed their returns. But he said that vision was still years off and not in the specific planning stages now.

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