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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which is under a hiring freeze ordered by the Trump administration, is reportedly planning on cutting nearly 20 percent of its workforce by May 15, or about 18,000 employees.
The layoffs, which have been directed by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire and "special government employee" Elon Musk, have sparked concerns among experts who fear that the IRS won't be able to process Americans' tax refunds as quickly as usual this year.
Why It Matters
Federal agencies have been in a frenzy since Trump's return to the White House. First, he signed an executive order requiring staff to get back to the office and end remote work. Then, he launched mass layoffs, spearheaded by DOGE, that left employees questioning whether they would even have a job to return to.
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Since the establishment of the new advisory body in January, thousands of federal workers have been fired or have taken the Trump administration's buyout offers and resigned voluntarily.
The mass firings have sparked outrage among federal workers, their unions and Democrats, who have questioned the legitimacy of Musk's authority, and spurred legal challenges to DOGE's actions. There is also growing uncertainty over the future of many federal agencies whose workforces have been slashed by the Trump administration, including the IRS.
What To Know
The details of the IRS proposal to cut nearly 20 percent of its workforce by May 15—a month after Tax Day—were laid out in an email from DOGE and reported widely.
It includes yet another round of layoffs that would terminate nearly 6,800 IRS employees on top of the 6,700 probationary employees who have already been laid off and roughly 4,700 who have taken the Trump administration's voluntary buyout offer.
The plan was due to be discussed on Thursday during a meeting among the agency's leadership, CNN reported, mentioning a source familiar with the matter who decided to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation.
Tax experts have warned that Americans are likely to face longer waiting times this year as a result of the chaos engulfing the agency and staffing cuts, urging taxpayers to file earlier to avoid delays on their refunds.
The slashing of the IRS workforce by nearly 20 percent shortly after the April 15 deadline, the day by which most taxpayers need to file their individual federal income tax return, could "have an immediate impact," public accountant Richard Pon told USA Today. Processing centers will be understaffed, he warned, and customer service lines will have longer waiting times, while the few existing in-person service centers may be forced to close.
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"While the IRS has made progress in modernization, reduced staffing could slow the processing of returns, leading to potential refund delays for some taxpayers," Clay Hodges, director of national tax at professional services firm Moss Adams, previously told Newsweek.
"I anticipate these delays could create a cascading effect—as more returns pile up, it will become increasingly difficult for the IRS to keep pace, further straining its ability to process refunds in a timely manner."
What People Are Saying
An anonymous source familiar with the matter told CNN: "Depending upon how we effectuate these cuts, it could dramatically reduce revenue, dramatically reduce customer service. If we are not auditing much, it impacts people's willingness to file honestly in the first place."
An anonymous IRS employee told CNN: "Morale is suffering. More and more of our workdays are taken up by questions, meetings, new issues coming down the pike and new directives from outside our agency. And really, all we want to do is do our jobs."
In a letter to the IRS acting commissioner Melanie Krause sent earlier this month, a group of House Democrats wrote: "This abrupt reduction in workforce could exacerbate existing challenges faced by an already overburdened agency and threatens to undermine the IRS' capacity to serve the American people effectively, including ensuring that taxpayers receive timely services and refunds.
"The American people deserve an IRS capable of fulfilling its dual mandate: enforcing tax laws equitably and providing timely, reliable assistance to filers. Staff reductions of this magnitude risk prolonging processing delays and increasing wait times for taxpayer support—disproportionately harming working families who rely on prompt refunds and accessible services."
What Happens Next
On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to rehire many of the workers who had been fired from the IRS and five other agencies.
While the Trump administration has filed a notice to appeal this decision, it is unclear how the judge's order will affect the tax-collecting agency's plan to let go thousands of its employees by mid-May.
Correction 4/3/25, 8:10 a.m. ET: This article was updated to clarify that the details of the proposed IRS workforce cuts came a month after Tax Day.
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