By May 15, one month after U.S. Tax Day, the IRS would have lost roughly 20% of its employees, according to a drastic reduction plan put out by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency.
All federal departments are required by President Trump’s directive to submit their Reduction in Force (RIF) plans for “large scale” layoffs no later than Thursday.
A person with knowledge of the situation, who requested anonymity due to concerns of reprisal, said that an email from DOGE has detailed the IRS plan and that agency leadership will meet Thursday morning to examine it. No one is aware of the proposal.
Along with the 6,700 probationary workers who have already lost their jobs and the 4,700 who participated in the “voluntary buyout” scheme, also called the “Fork in the Road” by the Trump administration, the most recent wave of layoffs would eliminate approximately 6,800 more workers. Workers with fewer than one year of service are often considered to be on probation.
Following a significant court decision on Thursday, the Trump administration was ordered to reinstate approximately 6,700 probationary employees who were terminated from six federal agencies, including the IRS’ parent agency, the Treasury Department. However, it is still unclear how many of these employees will actually be reinstated.
According to the source, who is echoing the worries of experts and other employees, these budget cuts might reduce IRS income, which could have repercussions across the federal government as the IRS finances almost all government activities. Although the tax filing deadline is April 15, the agency is open all year to process returns.
An anonymous insider warned that “depending upon how we effectuate these cuts, it could dramatically reduce revenue, dramatically reduce customer service,” and went on to say that voluntary tax compliance could be affected as well.
According to the source, “people’s willingness to file honestly in the first place” is affected if there is a lack of examination.
Speaking anonymously to AWN, one current IRS employee expressed that the announcement of anticipated personnel cutbacks on Thursday only served to exacerbate an already hostile work environment.
The IRS worker said, “Morale is suffering” following the announcement of the most recent budget reduction. Meetings, inquiries, and upcoming problems or orders from outside our agency are eating up an increasing portion of our workdays. And the truth is, we just want to get the job done.
“People crying, managers apologizing for the firings and chaos, and social media [in] a frenzy,” the employee claimed of the “everyday status quo” at the tax-collection business.
Being a leader in their local union representing IRS employees, this individual, like the majority of IRS employees, is not based in Washington, DC. They chose to remain nameless in order to protect themselves from any reprisal from the DOGE teams, who are planning to implement more cutbacks.