5d ago

The IRS is drafting plans to cut as much as half of its 90,000-person workforce, AP sources say

apnews.com The IRS is drafting plans to cut as much as half of its 90,000-person workforce, AP sources say

The IRS is drafting plans to try to cut its workforce of roughly 90,000 people in half through a mix of layoffs, attrition and incentivized buyouts, according to two people familiar with the situation and not authorized to speak on the record.

Summary

The IRS is considering drastic workforce reduction plans that could cut up to half of its 90,000 employees through layoffs, attrition, and buyouts.

The Trump administration, working through Elon Musk's DOGE, has already laid off 7,000 probationary (newly hired) employees and plans further reductions.

Former IRS commissioners warn that such cuts would make the agency dysfunctional: “Reducing the IRS’s resources will make our government less effective and efficient in collecting taxes Congress has imposed.”

The agency may also lend workers to the Department of Homeland Security for immigration deportation.

32 comments

The elites want IRS less efficient and dysfunctional.

This should make tax season pressure free for new families, given the sudden uptick in octuplets birthed in the previous tax year. It's nice not to have to worry about getting audited.
Besides, the IRS is definitely going to get turned into a political weapon, given that they've already accused Democrats of that, this is one of their next projections.

Run government like a buisiness they said.
Lets fire everyone in accounts receivable they say.
I know what direction this "business" is going...
Fucking morons.

- Oligarchs are going to eat good.
- “You don’t hyper-decant your wine? You gotta hyper decant!”

It's dysfunctional now. I've been dealing with a problem with my 2018 return because of mistake by my preparer. I tried multiple times over a two year period to reach someone on the phone with no success. On my last attempt I got to a person after 1 hour 45 minutes on hold. I sent the requested documents in November 2024 and still haven't received so much as an acknowledgement in the mail.
- It’s on the brink of complete collapse, which is exactly where they want it so they are free to lie and cheat and steal from the people.
- Weird. I had to deal with them once. I remember it being very quick and painless.
  
  Once I got in touch with someone they were helpful and professional. They're just so understaffed you can't speak to someone. The first three times I tried to call tye system message was basically "There is no more room in the queue. Please try again later. You will be disconnected now." And I was.
- If you're worried, send it certified mail and forget about it.
  
  Here's the kicker. The IRS won't accept mail with a return response. You can send it and track it but you can't be sure anyone actually received it. That happened on one of my attempts to send it via mail. It was received the second time.
- It’s the 2021 return for me.
  I finally got a letter saying “you goofed you calculations, we recalculated them. If you don’t contest the new amount by [DATE], we will send your return in the new amount.”
  [DATE] was six months ago.
  
  My preparer didn't e-file and I didn't find out until 9 months after the due date. I had paid the taxes due electronically and had all the receipts so the IRS agreed I didn't owe them. They just wanted me to file. Five years since the first notice and I still don't have a final status. I'm guessing a lot of people simply won't pay or file if they cut the staffing that much.

Ok so we all lying on our taxes this year, right?

its been shown they can only go after people earning less than 100k/year if they are cut too much, and ignore the bigger fish like corporations and rich people.
- Maybe i should start saying I make $90 billion a year as a tax optimization
- I'm sure that's Musk's goal.
- Do you have a source for this?
  If true, maybe I should stop paying taxes entirely.

They will erase the departments chasing businesses and rich people for money and only poor's will have to pay taxes

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that IRS employees are most-likely revenue-positive for the government.
- right now they are just raiding the govt for money and then leave an empty husk, more or less its being run like a PE firm does.

But don't some of those .1% types get loads of money from the US government? Where do they think that money comes from? The money fairies?
- I suppose to them, the US Treasury is magic. You'd think the 'titans of industry' would understand that taxing is needed even when you can print money because money itself is a commodity. It's only worth something if not everyone has it.

This may be the most insane thing this insane administration has done so far

Lmao the republicans are the not the party of the little people.
The article is from 2022 Inflation Reduction Act https://www.caltaxadviser.com/irs-audits-are-about-to-surge-heres-who-theyre-targeting/
Commissioner Werfel emphasized that most Americans, particularly middle- and low-income taxpayers as well as small business owners, will not experience a significant increase in audits. Instead, by prioritizing high-wealth individuals, large corporations, and intricate partnerships, the IRS aims to target its resources where they can have the most significant impact
Lol https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/irs-should-target-large-complex-partnerships-watchdog-says

Ah, the tried and true strategy of saving money on fuel by quitting your job

Well, time to start learning how to do NEU USA taxes. Where we shirk our own tax responsibilities through loopholes just like big companies! Grandma and Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Aunty Em. Let’s all get us some offshore accounts and shell companies! Hey, I’m just doing what the President is encouraging. If they don’t have staff to enforce it either, whooo boy. But not my problem. I voted for the other gal 🤷 This is “_Ame_rica First!”

This seems like a good time for everyone to cheat on taxes.
- simply to just not pay.
  
  Too obvious imo, would consume more resources if investigation were required. If you had a few more deductions and losses on the other hand, that reduces your tax burden and boom.

Musk’s DOGE turns IRS into a hollow shell; good luck funding Congress’s spending spree now.
🐱

32 comments