US IRS Expected to Fire 6,700 Employees on Thursday in Trump Downsizing Spree

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: US News and World Report/Reuters

Feb. 20, 2025, at 9:21 a.m.


(Reuters) - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is expected to fire about 6,700 employees on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter said, eliminating roughly 7% of the tax-collecting agency's workforce in the midst of the critical tax-filing season. The planned cuts are part of President Donald Trump's radical downsizing effort that has targeted bank regulators, forest workers, rocket scientists and tens of thousands of other government employees.

The effort is being led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, Trump's biggest campaign donor. The planned layoffs at the IRS would largely target workers at the 95,000-person agency who were hired as part of an expansion under former Democratic President Joe Biden, who had sought to expand enforcement efforts on wealthy taxpayers. Trump's Republicans have blasted that effort, saying without evidence that middle-class Americans and small business owners would be the ones hardest hit.

The workers being cut are in their probationary period and enjoy fewer protections than career employees. The IRS, which has not confirmed the planned cuts, has taken a more careful approach to downsizing than other agencies given that it is in the middle of its busiest period, with the April 15 tax filing deadline just two months away.

The 2025 tax filing season opened on January 27, with the IRS expecting over 140 million individual tax year 2024 returns by the federal filing deadline. The dismissals targeted employees involved in a variety of roles, ranging from revenue agents to specialized auditors to IT specialists across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., according to the person familiar with the matter.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2025-02-20/us-irs-expected-to-fire-6-700-employees-on-thursday-in-trump-downsizing-spree

[bleedingulcers]

1. I was just on hold for 90 minutes...

To ask to have a duplicate 1099 sent to me. There was no way to request it on their website...

This isn't going to get better with large firings; how long until people quit filing taxes because they can't get their documents?

And how long will our refunds take?

sigh...

[LizBeth]

4. Exactly

[Deminpenn]

8. IRS only gets a copy of the 1099s

sent in by the issuer. You should call whoever sent your 1099 to request a copy. If you're a retired fed, you can get it from servicesonline.

[Irish_Dem]

2. Firing all the young workers who can learn from the older workers.

Destroys an agency for a long time.

[LizBeth]

3. I have had accountants fuck up three years recently and IRS agents saved me the money

each time. I love the IRS, I don't care what anyone said. One was a 3k mistake, I sent the money then they asked for another 300 and I called. The woman told me my acct did not fill out the back of a sheet and if I sent in correction, I would get 3k back. This last one said I owed 158k selling a house. They are so short employees as it is took 5 months to finally get info processed but ultimately it was two different agents walking me thru the process to correct issue, online. My point.

I like IRS and they are not out to fuck us BUT they are already short staffed which makes it hard for all of us to resolve issues.

[Alice B.]

7. Amen. I also love the IRS.

I was misclassified as an independent contractor and, from filing an SS-8 (request that they determine my status) through to the two amended returns currently being processed by them, every person I’ve spoken to has been kind, patient, and professional. Even if it is a challenge getting through to them.

I will be super mad, though, if my stuff falls through the cracks and I remain on the hook for taxes my former employer, a tech company, should’ve been paying.

[LizBeth]

13. Yes to all that. I work for a health insurance and hate it. Hate what I see, but a job.

Over the last two yrs I have not been nice to the company when talking to providers. But, now that I am there long enough and learned enough I see I can really really be an advocate for the provider from within. And this makes the job worthwhile. That is truly how I see the IRS. Advocates for us and I have dealt enough, it is across the board.

[kimbutgar]

5. I usually file early and have to pay so this year I'll file on April 13th

But at the rate things are going the 🍑💩🤡 will do an execute order that we don’t have to file to speed up the collapse of the US.

[Silent Type]

6. I guess it's "good" that only about 7% of IRS workforce is getting RIFed, and about 9,000 probationary workers

still have a job.

[TommieMommy]

9. This is causing so much stress on everyone 😡 I feel so bad for them

[PSPS]

10. I guess this means we'll have to keep waiting for trump's "audit" in 2016 to be completed

[Bengus81]

11. There will still be enough agents to audit small wage earners while letting

millionaires and billionaires off the hook.

Which....was the plan all along. This was never about saving a few $$$

[Mr. Mustard 2023]

12. You watch, our 2024 tax filings are

going to be delayed and or botched. They'll blame us too, and try to add fees & interest after they screw up.

[appleannie1]

14. No wonder everything he ever ran went bankrupt.

Nothing like firing the IRS workers during tax season to create chaos and screwups.

[leftyladyfrommo]

15. Being poor has benefits. I don't have to

file anymore.

That will be such a mess.