The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is set to reduce its workforce by about 7,000 probationary workers in Washington, D.C., and nationwide, starting Thursday. These layoffs will impact probationary employees who have been with the IRS for a year or less and have not yet obtained full civil service protection.
Reports indicate that around 6,700 IRS workers, representing 7% of the agency's total workforce of approximately 95,000 employees, will be affected. The layoffs will encompass various roles, including revenue agents, specialized auditors, and IT specialists across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.
It remains uncertain how these job cuts will influence tax collection services at the IRS, which is anticipated to receive over 140 million returns this year. However, the IRS plans to retain several thousand probationary employees deemed essential for processing tax returns and supporting taxpayers.
The layoffs are part of the Trump administration's initiative to enhance government efficiency and reduce unnecessary federal spending. The Department of Government Efficiency has been assigned the task of streamlining the federal workforce, which involves letting go of most recent hires.
President Donald Trump's recent directive for federal employees to return to in-person work by early February or face termination aligns with this move. Additionally, IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were informed that they could not accept the administration's buyout offer until after the mid-May filing deadline.
These layoffs partially reverse the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated $80 billion to recruit 87,000 new IRS agents, with a focus on targeting middle-class Americans. While the Biden administration argued that bolstering the IRS workforce would aid in ensuring wealthy individuals pay their fair share of taxes, the oversight committee claimed the funds were utilized to hire agents for a different purpose.
Despite these changes, the IRS highlighted improvements in service performance and reduced phone wait times over the past two filing seasons. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel emphasized the ongoing enhancements to assist taxpayers during the tax season, underscoring the importance of continued investment in the nation's tax system.
