How Halving the IRS Workforce Could Hit Taxpayers
Longer wait times for taxpayers and a heightened risk that
wealthy Americans escape paying what they owe are on the table
if the Trump administration follows through with its goal of
slashing the size of the IRS’s workforce.
The administration wants to reduce the IRS’s headcount by
as much as 50%, through attrition, reductions in force, and two
already-announced efforts: the firing of probationary employees
and the deferred-resignation offer.
“The IRS needs more people, not less,” said Lee Meyercord,
a partner at Holland & Knight. Job cuts like these “will reverse
the dramatic improvement in recent years in taxpayer service,
collection, and enforcement.”
David Carrone, an IRS revenue agent and a chapter president
for the National Treasury Employees Union in Arkansas and
Louisiana, said the threat of huge job cuts is hurting employee
morale.
“Your whole routine is gone. You’re waiting for that tap on
your shoulder,” Carrone said.
But not everyone has the same view about the potential for
big job cuts at the IRS. David Kautter, who served as acting IRS
commissioner during the first Trump administration, said halving
the workforce “will force the IRS to rethink how it’s structured
and how it operates.” Read More
On Capitol Hill, Democrats criticized plans to slash the
federal workforce, while Republicans said they’re still
withholding judgment or that deep cuts to agencies like the IRS
are justified.
“We’ll have to be judicious in doing so, but you’ve got to
downsize the size of government, or we’re in a bad course in
terms of the amount of debt we have right now,” said Sen. Steve
Daines (R-Mont.).
More than 130 congressional Democrats, led by Reps. Deborah
Ross (N.C.) and Lloyd Doggett (Texas), are blasting the firing
of new IRS hires during the filing season. In a letter to acting
IRS Commissioner Melanie Krause, the lawmakers sought
information about how the IRS plans to mitigate the fallout and
the impact of firings on revenue collection.
“This abrupt reduction in workforce could exacerbate
existing challenges faced by an already overburdened agency and
threatens to undermine the IRS’ capacity to serve the American
people effectively, including ensuring that taxpayers receive
timely services and refunds,” the letter said. Read More
Longer wait times for taxpayers and a heightened risk that
wealthy Americans escape paying what they owe are on the table
if the Trump administration follows through with its goal of
slashing the size of the IRS’s workforce.
The administration wants to reduce the IRS’s headcount by
as much as 50%, through attrition, reductions in force, and two
already-announced efforts: the firing of probationary employees
and the deferred-resignation offer.
“The IRS needs more people, not less,” said Lee Meyercord,
a partner at Holland & Knight. Job cuts like these “will reverse
the dramatic improvement in recent years in taxpayer service,
collection, and enforcement.”
David Carrone, an IRS revenue agent and a chapter president
for the National Treasury Employees Union in Arkansas and
Louisiana, said the threat of huge job cuts is hurting employee
morale.
“Your whole routine is gone. You’re waiting for that tap on
your shoulder,” Carrone said.
But not everyone has the same view about the potential for
big job cuts at the IRS. David Kautter, who served as acting IRS
commissioner during the first Trump administration, said halving
the workforce “will force the IRS to rethink how it’s structured
and how it operates.” Read More
On Capitol Hill, Democrats criticized plans to slash the
federal workforce, while Republicans said they’re still
withholding judgment or that deep cuts to agencies like the IRS
are justified.
“We’ll have to be judicious in doing so, but you’ve got to
downsize the size of government, or we’re in a bad course in
terms of the amount of debt we have right now,” said Sen. Steve
Daines (R-Mont.).
More than 130 congressional Democrats, led by Reps. Deborah
Ross (N.C.) and Lloyd Doggett (Texas), are blasting the firing
of new IRS hires during the filing season. In a letter to acting
IRS Commissioner Melanie Krause, the lawmakers sought
information about how the IRS plans to mitigate the fallout and
the impact of firings on revenue collection.
“This abrupt reduction in workforce could exacerbate
existing challenges faced by an already overburdened agency and
threatens to undermine the IRS’ capacity to serve the American
people effectively, including ensuring that taxpayers receive
timely services and refunds,” the letter said. Read More
Wealthy tax cheats poised to benefit from planned IRS cuts
Longer wait times for taxpayers and a heightened risk that wealthy Americans escape paying what they owe are on the table if the Trump administration follows through with its goal of slashing the size of the IRS’s workforce.
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