IRS Job Cuts Could Be Largest In Any U.S. Federal Agency

Probationary employees at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began receiving termination notices as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) pushes forward with cost-cutting measures at the tax agency.

The IRS layoffs come amid the peak of tax season.

The plan to lay off approximately 6,000 IRS workers is raising concerns about the ongoing tax filing season, Barron’s Daily reported.

The union representing the affected workers called the layoffs “arbitrary and unlawful.” National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) President Doreen Greenwald vowed to fight for reinstatements, saying, “We will keep fighting until every wrongful termination is reversed.”

National Economic Council (NEC) Director Kevin Hassett defended the cuts, stating that not all employees were “fully occupied.”

As of May 2024, the IRS employed 94,562 workers, including 14,130 who had been with the agency for less than a year—many of whom are at the highest risk for termination since probationary employees typically have a one-year trial period.

The Trump administration’s cost-cutting efforts have primarily targeted these newer hires.

Although unemployment claims remain relatively low, the federal government layoffs are expected to push total U.S. jobless claims higher. New claims increased by 5,000 to 219,000 last week, though only 613 federal employees filed for benefits in the week ending Feb. 8, the most recent available data.

The layoffs come amid the peak of tax season. The IRS began accepting 2024 tax returns on Jan. 27, two days earlier than in 2023, and has already processed nearly 24 million returns—about 17% of the more than 140 million expected by the April 15 deadline.