The Latest: Mnuchin says online tax filers to get extension

WASHINGTON — The Latest on the outage of the IRS payment website (all times local):

4:30 p.m.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says Americans who have been unable to pay their taxes Tuesday because the IRS payment website is down will receive an extension when the site is working again.

The website has been down most of the day and wasn’t operational as of 4:30 p.m. EDT.

Mnuchin commented on the outage when asked by reporters after an event in Derry, New Hampshire, where he promoted the Trump tax overhaul along with Ivanka Trump.

Mnuchin described the problem as a “high-volume technical issue” that the IRS is attempting to resolve.

Taxe day falls on April 17 this year because April 15 was a Sunday and April 16 was Emancipation Day, a holiday in Washington, D.C.

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4:10 p.m.

The IRS website where people can pay their taxes and access other key services has been down for most the day, frustrating last-minute tax filers.

A message on the website about the outage indicates the agency still expects Americans to pay their taxes on time.

The IRS did not give an immediate explanation for the failure but said in a statement that “certain IRS systems are experiencing technical difficulties.”

The agency also said that taxpayers should filing their tax returns as they normally would. The problem is, electronic filing is the most popular way to file.

Tax day falls on April 17 this year because April 15 was a Sunday and April 16 was Emancipation Day, a holiday in Washington, D.C.