This website is not a politics-related website. However, the latest news about the government shutdown WILL affect your business and finances directly, so we must cover this controversial topic.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you are familiar with the government shutdown. President Donald Trump took this decision when he realized that he was not being supported to build the wall.
However, the government has been shut down for three weeks now at the time of this writing, and many government employees are not getting paid. Since they are not getting paid, they are not showing up to work because they are not going to waste their time in exchange for nothing. Instead, they are with their families or working on the side.
What does this mean for you, and your business?
Let’s start with taxes.
IRS employees work for the government. Since the offices are closed and nobody is working, it will take longer for you to get your tax return. This means that you will not get anything back until the government is re-opened and fully functional. However, President Trump says that the government could be closed for weeks, months, or even YEARS. With that said, it could take years for you to get your tax return.
Travel
If you run a successful business or travel a lot for personal reasons, your travel might be impacted by the shutdown. Security lanes in airports are being closed due to TSA shortages. As expected, they are not showing up to work because they are not being paid to be there. Time is money, after
all. Due to this, it will take longer for you to reach your destination and get things done in a different timezone.Health
Environmental Protection Agency Pollution inspectors are not working. I think this is self-explanatory. Pollution can lead to detrimental health conditions that will not favor anybody. If you get sick due to contamination, you will not be able to work. Additionally, food inspections have been stopped to some extent, so you may consume foods that have not been inspected!
Employer
If you run a company and are trying to hire someone, you need to verify if that person is in the US legally. However, you cannot use E-verify because it is a federal system, and it is down.
Safety
Air traffic controllers are not getting paid and not showing up to work. Be safe on the plane. Additionally, Secret Service agents and prison employees are also not getting paid. All these points together can put your safety at risk.
Of course, there are more direct effects of the government shutdown, but the ones mentioned above are some of the facts that you must be aware of.
Although there is virtually nothing you can do to solve this detrimental situation, your only power is to prepare yourself for this or any other future events like this one.
For this, we have created a dedicated post on this matter, which will come out on Friday 18th, 2019. Stay Tuned! Because I assure you that your finances will thank you.