IRS commissioner: You still have to file taxes during shutdown

The deadline to file federal taxes this year is April 18. The IRS also recently reported that nearly 70 percent of taxpayers filed electronically in 2010.

In a question-and-answer session Wednesday, the commissioner reiterated many of the points he made last week to a House panel: that, even though top officials have stressed the goal is to avoid such an outcome, a government shutdown during the middle of tax season would be challenging for his agency.

An Obama administration spokesman struck a similar tone to Shulman on Wednesday, telling reporters in a briefing that the IRS would not process paper returns and would suspend audits during a shutdown.