The IRS Missed the Windows XP Update Deadline, Has to Pay Microsoft Millions for Support

It’s tax day! Did you file your taxes yet? You know, it’s important to get it done on time, because the IRS doesn’t stand for missed deadlines—unless, of course, that deadline is Microsoft’s end of Windows XP support. Then, the IRS is all, “Oh, was that this month? You know, I’ve just been so busy. Can I get an extension?”

The schadenfreude is strong with this one. The IRS is now saddled with approximately $30 million in costs to finish upgrading their remaining Windows XP systems to Windows 7, but I’m sure their vast body of experience with late fees will help them out.

They even got condescending remarks when trying to explain themselves, just like every time anyone has ever had to call a government office and explain extenuating circumstances. The House Financial Services and General Government subcommittee chairman, Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), said to the commissioner of the IRS in a budget hearing:

Now we find out that you’ve been struggling to come up with $30 million to finish migrating to Windows 7, even though Microsoft announced in 2008 that it would stop supporting Windows XP past 2014. I know you probably wish you’d already done that.

John Koskinen, the IRS commissioner, explained that the Windows 7 upgrades were part of a larger technological upgrade package that the IRS couldn’t secure the money for, so it wound up waiting until after the deadline. You know, because sometimes it’s not financially feasible to hit deadlines.

Microsoft has about as much pity for the IRS’s lateness as they deserve, and now they’ll be stuck paying tons of money for custom support as they move to more updated and secure Windows 7 systems. So if you’re rushing to file your taxes just under the wire today, have a little chuckle to yourself that the IRS is getting a taste of its own medicine.

Just try not to remember that it’s coming out of your pocket.

(ComputerWorld via Gizmodo, image via Tax Credits and Microsoft)

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