IRS Workforce Declines 27% in 2025 Due to Funding Reductions and Efficiency Reforms

# IRS Workforce Drops 27% in 2025 Amid Funding Cuts and Enforcement Priorities The IRS workforce fell from more than 102,000 in January 2025 to about 74,000 in December 2025, according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service. This represents a 27% smaller workforce in December 2025 compared to the start of 2025.

The staffing cuts resulted from reductions by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and other 2025 measures.

IRS CEO Frank Bisignano stated that the IRS will prioritize data-driven enforcement despite the staffing cuts. Data-driven enforcement is one of the three strategic priorities outlined by the IRS in its fiscal year 2027 Congressional Justification. The tax filing deadline is April 15.

IRS Enforcement Methods Persist Amid Reductions IRS enforcement includes automated math error notices, the agency's matching program for tax forms, exams by mail, and in-person field audits, according to Eric Hylton.

Nearly 80% of IRS exams happened via correspondence during fiscal year 2024, with the remaining exams being in-person field audits, based on IRS agency data. The agency uses software to flag returns that fall outside normal deductions compared to earnings.

Eric Hylton is the national director for tax consulting firm Alliantgroup and a former IRS commissioner for the agency's small business and self-employed division.

40% of individual returns for tax years 2014 through 2022. The IRS sends a CP2000 notice as a proposal to change income, payments, credits or deductions on a return when discrepancies are flagged. The IRS three-year statute of limitations applies to some 2022 returns.

Funding History and Recent Budget Proposals Democrats approved nearly $80 billion in funding for the IRS through 2031 in 2022, with $45.

6 billion of the 2022 IRS funding allocated for enforcement. 8 billion after Republican rescissions, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released a report in March 2026.

President Donald Trump released a fiscal year 2027 budget request on April 3. President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2027 budget request aims to slash IRS agency funding. If enacted by Congress, the IRS enforcement budget would fall by 18% compared to fiscal year 2026 under Trump's request.

Modernization Efforts in Enforcement IRS CEO Frank Bisignano wrote that the IRS is modernizing enforcement through expanded use of artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and improved data integration in the April 3 report.

These tools allow the IRS to more precisely identify high-risk noncompliance and fraud, deter identity theft, and focus enforcement resources on higher-value cases, Bisignano wrote in the April 3 report. 2% in 2011, according to IRS data. Victoria Boon is a tax consultant of Boon Tax Educators and spent more than 20 years working for the IRS.