Overview
- The IRS workforce fell to about 74,000 in 2025, a roughly 27%–28% drop, with steep losses in taxpayer service, IT, and return-processing functions.
- A GAO audit, citing an internal December assessment, found a 43-day fall shutdown delayed hiring and compressed onboarding, raising risks of processing errors and poor customer service.
- Seasonal hiring lagged severely, with the returns-processing unit having onboarded about 2% of planned temporary staff by December and full onboarding taking up to 80 days.
- Performance pressures are mounting, as GAO reported paper-return processing times rose from 27 to 36 days post-2025 season and overtime increased 38% while about 164 million returns are expected this year.
- GAO urged an implementation team, a stronger strategic workforce plan, and a blueprint to reduce correspondence backlogs; the IRS neither agreed nor disagreed, and key modernization efforts, including the paperless push, remain in flux.