The problems did not stop the filing of returns through software providers and efile, nor were those using paper to file and pay affected, the IRS said
Acting IRS commissioner David Kautter apologized for the outage, but did not provide any information on tis cause.
Problems apparently were solved bit by bit with some services mentioned in news reports early in the day having been restored. Among the last to come back online were e-services and DirectPay with Bank Account, which were down in the late afternoon, but were working normally in the early evening.