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4d ago

IRS Staff Cuts Threaten to Strain 2026 Tax Filing Season

Erin Collins warns that deep staff losses have left the agency with tens of thousands of unresolved identity-theft cases, threatening its ability to handle next year’s filings under tighter budgets.

FILE - A sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building is photographed May 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Erin Collins, national taxpayer advocate, speaks during a Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing on "Internal Revenue Service: Narrowing the Tax Gap and Improving Taxpayer Services, on May 19, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
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Overview

  • The IRS workforce fell by 26 percent in the first half of 2025, shrinking from 102,113 to 75,702 employees after buyouts led by the Department of Government Efficiency.
  • As of June 2025 the agency is managing about 387,000 unresolved identity-theft cases that take roughly 20 months each to resolve.
  • The Trump administration’s budget proposal calls for a 20 percent cut in IRS funding, compounding capacity challenges created by the headcount decline.
  • New retroactive provisions in the pending “One Big Beautiful Bill” would require rapid updates to tax forms and computer programming, heightening demand on a reduced staff.
  • Critical preparation steps such as hiring and training seasonal and permanent employees have not yet begun, raising concerns over potential delays in processing next year’s returns.