IRS Has Lost One-quarter Of Its IT Staff Since Trump Took Office

A quarter of the Internal Revenue Service's IT staff has departed since President Trump's workforce reduction efforts began earlier this year, and that has officials worried the 2026 tax season could be a mess.

The Treasury's latest IRS workforce reduction snapshot report indicates that as of May, a full 25 percent (2,163) of the IRS' IT workforce has departed as a result of the deferred resignation program, retirement, layoffs, or other factors. Twenty-three percent of IT management (1,853) have left as well, making them one of the worst hit job functions in the IRS' ranks. 

In addition to those layoffs, the report noted that an additional 48 senior IT office employees were placed on administrative leave in March due to reorganization plans, 22 of whom remain on administrative leave as of early June.

IT got hit hard, but other parts of the tax collection agency got it worse. On a per capita basis, the IRS' HR office and the small business and self employed (SB/SE) taxpayer services divisions were hit harder. By sheer numbers, SB/SE and the taxpayer services units each shedded more than 8,500 people.

The IRS's overall general layoff rate has tracked with the IT group's, with a full quarter of staff gone since Trump took office. 

A slow moving, noticeable and avoidable disaster

According to the IRS's National Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), those workforce reductions - particularly in IT and taxpayer services - could be a disaster for next tax season. 

In its 2026 Congressional Objectives Report, published in late June, TAS chief and National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins called out staff cuts as a concern. 

The IRS typically begins preparation for the coming tax year soon after the prior return window closes, Collins noted in the report. But thanks to workforce reductions, instead of hiring temporary staff and beginning prep work, the IRS hasn't even started the process. 

"As of mid-2025, there are concerns the IRS has not yet performed key preparatory activities, including preparatory activities to hire and train seasonal and permanent filing season employees, thereby raising risks to the integrity and timeliness of the 2026 filing season," Collins wrote.

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"Trained and knowledgeable personnel remain central to this effort. Staffing reductions and the loss of experienced personnel, particularly in mission-critical areas, create vulnerabilities in service delivery, return processing, and taxpayer assistance."

Elsewhere in the report, Collins mentions IT modernization efforts at the IRS, including working with DOGE, are essential to make future tax seasons go smoothly. She's less sure the tech modernization drive is going well, noting that a lack of disclosure about the efforts to the public or Congress means tech modernization projects could stall "or deviate from their intended outcomes." 

As the TAS noted in a press release accompanying the report, workforce reduction won't help matters, either, and was blunt about it. 

"Without improved technology in place, IRS staffing cuts could jeopardize the success of next year's filing season," TAS said in its statement. "To deliver a successful filing season, the IRS needs a sufficient number of trained employees." 

The TAS report, which contains newer data than the workforce reduction snapshot, indicates the layoffs have continued at the IRS.

As of late June, 27 percent of the IT workforce has been slashed since Trump took office - two percent more than was the case in TIGTA's data from the prior month. The same additional two percent reduction holds for the taxpayer services group, too. ®