Some recalled IRS workers can stay off the job

Several hundred of the 46,000 furloughed IRS employees recalled to work last week have gotten permission to stay off the job because of financial hardship.

Nearly 60 percent of the IRS workforce was called back, without pay, during the partial government shutdown so they could handle tax returns and send out refunds.

The official start of the tax filing season comes Monday. The Trump administration has promised that taxpayers owed refunds will be paid on time.

The IRS employees' union contract allows them to be absent from work if they experience hardship during a shutdown.

The union and the IRS aren't providing specific numbers on employees not working and invoking the hardship provision.