DOGE Proposes Cutting IRS Workforce by 20% During Height of Tax Season
The agency has already laid off more than 10,000 employees

The Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) proposed cutting the Internal Revenue Service (IRS') workforce by 20% by May 15, just one month after Tax Day.
The latest round of layoffs would see 6,800 employees terminated from their positions with the IRS, CNN reported. It comes after 4,700 employees took the "voluntary buyout" and 6,700 probationary employees were laid off.
Trump and Elon Musk's deeper cuts to the workforce "could dramatically reduce revenue, dramatically reduce customer service" and could affect voluntary tax compliance, a source told CNN.
"If we are not auditing much, it impacts people's willingness to file honestly in the first place," the source explained.
Another source revealed to CNN that "morale is suffering" within the agency.
"More and more of our workdays are taken up by questions, meetings, new issues coming down the pike and new directives from outside our agency. And really, all we want to do is do our jobs," the source added.
In March 2024, former Commissioner of Internal Revenue Daniel Werfel stated he was working boost the IRS' workforce to a little above 100,000 over the next three years in order to reach its modernization, service and enforcement goals, according to Reuters. At the end of 2024, the agency had reached more than 100,000 employees.
Originally published on Latin Times
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