IRS to lay off up to 25% of workforce, citing tech and efficiency goals

The IRS plans to cut as many as 20,000 staffers — up to 25% of the workforce — as part of layoffs that began Friday, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

The job cuts will begin with the IRS Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, which would be reduced by 75% through layoffs, and its remaining workers would be absorbed into the agency’s Office of Chief Counsel, according to those two people as well as a third person familiar with the matter. Fewer than 200 people work in the Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, formerly known as the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

The three people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the plans. The Washington Post first reported on Friday’s layoffs at the IRS, which collects revenue and enforces tax laws.

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The workforce reductions are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy through billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The administration has closed agencies, laid off probationary employees who have not yet gained civil service protection and offered buyouts through a “deferred resignation program.”

A Treasury spokesperson who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview Treasury plans said Friday that any staffing reductions are part of larger process improvements and tech innovations that will allow the IRS to operate more effectively.

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Rolling back Biden-era hiring and consolidating support functions are intended to more efficiently serve the public, the spokesperson said in a statement.

The IRS started workforce reductions in February. Roughly 7,000 probationary employees with one year or less of service at the agency were notified they would lose their jobs.

However, a federal judge recently ordered those workers to be reinstated.

In March, IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were told they would not be allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until after the taxpayer filing deadline of April 15.