IRS Managers Opt for Lower Positions as Agency Looks to Hire for Customer Service Positions
IRS Struggles with Staffing Shortages and Upcoming Tax Code Changes
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is facing significant challenges due to severe staffing shortages, particularly in customer service and IT roles. The agency's workforce has shrunk by about 25% since the Trump administration began, with over 8,600 taxpayer services employees leaving the IRS and more than 30,000 positions shed so far this year [1][4].
These workforce reductions are a result of deferred resignations, retirements, reduction-in-force (RIF) actions, and administrative leave of some senior IT personnel. Administrative policies aiming to reduce federal employees, including removing due process employment protections, agency closures, and targeted layoffs, have contributed to this decline [1][3][4].
The IRS is expected to answer only about 16% of phone calls during next year's filing season without hiring the new contact representative positions it needs. This drastic drop from 87% this year will likely lead to many unanswered calls and difficulty in reaching assistance [2]. The agency's website is also expected to suffer from more bugs and downtime due to the lack of IT staff [2].
The increased complexity and volume of inquiries due to changes in tax law further burden the understaffed IRS [2]. To mitigate the shortage, the IRS plans to hire over 10,000 call center workers, but has struggled to meet hiring goals, leaving uncertainty about improvements in upcoming tax seasons [2].
IRS managers are taking on increasingly complex responsibilities and handling the duties of multiple managers, impacting service delivery and compliance programs [5]. The agency is scrambling to prepare its workforce and IT systems for major changes to the tax code as part of the "Big Beautiful Bill" that Trump signed into law earlier this month [6].
The IRS Professional Managers Association (PMA) states that this is the most dire leadership environment the IRS has experienced [7]. The National Treasury Employees Union believes that these drastic cuts would endanger the public's faith in the tax system and deprive taxpayers of the services they deserve [8].
The IRS is asking for $852 million to make the hires and roll out automation tools. However, the House Appropriations Committee's financial services and general government subcommittee advanced their fiscal 2026 spending bill without the requested funds, potentially cutting the IRS' budget by $2.7 billion or 23% [3].
Only about a quarter of the open positions are open to the public. A majority of the positions are only open to current IRS employees or federal employees whose job was eliminated [9]. The IRS is using its direct hire authority to fill these positions, and it is trying to hire 4,500 contact representative positions [10].
Steny Hoyer, Ranking Member of the subcommittee, stated that the spending bill would force the IRS to "pare back their most basic operations just to make ends meet" [3]. The IRS receives approximately 100 million calls each year, and it is planning to hire 11,000 call center representatives to maintain its current level of phone service in its fiscal 2026 budget request [11].
Without adequate funding, the IRS will have fewer employees available to answer calls from individuals and businesses, according to the National Treasury Employees Union [8]. The union warns that this could lead to longer wait times and reduced quality and availability of taxpayer assistance during critical periods like filing seasons [1][2][4].
- The IRS's financial struggles, exacerbated by staffing shortages, might prevent them from answering the anticipated number of phone calls during the upcoming tax season, potentially leading to longer wait times.
- The upcoming changes in tax code may create increased complexity and volume of inquiries for the already understaffed IRS, straining their ability to provide adequate assistance to taxpayers.
