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.

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.

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.