thanks to the moron Republicans shutting the government down. I got stuck in an IRS computer feedback loop. After visits to the office and submitting multiple copies of the return, I sat on my hands until I got a nasty letter about not submitting a return that year with somebody's name on it. My return letter probably singed the hair in his nose because I got my refund three weeks later.

The IRS can be weird, yo, especially if your return is complicated. There is no reason not to let someone see your return no matter if it is being audited. The IRS itself has said that.