Losing half its workforce will put a serious strain on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), meaning Americans may have to wait longer for their tax refunds.
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Internal Revenue Service in Washington.
The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to cut up to 50 percent of its staff, according to four people familiar with the matter. That significant reduction could threaten the agency's ability to carry out its core tax-collecting mission.
The IRS began the Trump administration with about 100,000 employees. It has already laid off more than 7,000 people who recently joined the agency and had less job security, and thousands more have accepted Elon Musk’s offer to resign. Those cuts, as well as routine turnover, are expected to go toward the Trump administration’s goal of cutting the number of people working at the IRS in half, two of the people said.
The Trump administration is preparing “downsizing” plans for agencies across the government as part of the next phase of its efforts to rapidly reduce the federal workforce. It’s unclear how quickly the next round of IRS layoffs might happen or how they will impact specific departments. The tax collector is in the process of auditing Americans’ tax returns as part of the annual filing season, and officials have delayed some layoffs until after the busy period in the spring.
A spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) declined to comment.
Losing half its staff would severely hamper the IRS, which has struggled for years to hire and retain a workforce capable of processing millions of tax returns each year and conducting complex audits. Americans may have to wait longer for their tax refunds or deal with IRS staff in future filing seasons, while corporations and wealthy Americans could face less oversight from the smaller tax agency.
Mr. Musk’s cost-cutting efforts, the Department of Government Efficiency, have taken a keen interest in the IRS in recent weeks, and two of its officials, Gavin Kliger and Sam Krokos, have been working at its Washington headquarters, according to people familiar with the matter. They have sought access to the agency’s databases, including, most recently, one that contains information about the agency’s contractors.
The IRS leadership is in turmoil, with two leaders having resigned under Mr. Trump. Acting Commissioner Melanie Krause placed the IRS’s top human resources officer on administrative leave this week, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Andrew Duren covers tax policy for The Times from Washington. More about Andrew Duren
Read more at: US Politics, Internal Revenue Service, Elon Musk, Donald Trump
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Source: nytimes.com
