IRS to lay off nearly 7K probationary hires: report

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is set to lay off approximately 7,000 probationary workers in Washington, D.C., and across the United States, starting Thursday. These layoffs will affect probationary workers who have been employed for one year or less and have not yet secured full civil service protection. The layoffs are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to increase government efficiency and eliminate wasteful federal spending.

Reports from The Associated Press and Reuters have indicated that about 6,700 IRS workers, representing 7% of the tax agency’s workforce, will be let go. The affected employees hold various positions, including revenue agents, specialized auditors, and IT specialists across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. It remains unclear how these layoffs will impact tax collection services at the IRS, which is expected to process more than 140 million returns this year.

While the IRS has not officially confirmed the layoff plan, sources have indicated that critical workers involved in processing tax returns and supporting taxpayers will be retained. However, employees in the compliance department, responsible for ensuring taxpayers are meeting their obligations, are expected to be most affected by the job cuts.

This announcement comes after President Donald Trump’s directive for federal employees to return to in-person work by early February or face termination. The IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were also informed that they were not eligible to accept the Trump administration’s buyout offer until mid-May, after the taxpayer filing deadline.

The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated funds to hire 87,000 new IRS agents, aimed to target wealthy Americans to ensure they were paying their fair share of taxes. However, the current administration’s efforts to trim the federal workforce will partially undo this initiative.

Despite the ongoing changes, the IRS has highlighted improvements in service performance and phone wait times in recent filing seasons. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel noted that these improvements were just the beginning of what the agency could achieve with continued investment in the nation’s tax system.

As the IRS navigates these layoffs and ongoing changes, it remains to be seen how the agency will continue to fulfill its mission of collecting taxes and providing taxpayer support effectively. The impact of these layoffs on IRS operations and taxpayer services will be closely monitored in the coming months.