The IRS is asking seasoned employees without any direct tax experience to perform entry-level tasks of answering phones and processing tax returns, a step those staffers call unprecedented as the agency scrambles to prepare for filing season. Guess that DOGE makeover didn’t take!
Reassignment is not voluntary, and they’re grabbing workers from HR and even the IT departments. Supervisors reportedly first asked for anyone who had experience in the front-line fields to consider the roles, but they ended up grabbing people with no prior experience working directly on tax issues.
The divisions in IRS that process tax returns and provide customer service have lost 8,300 workers, or 17% of their staff, the IG found.
According to Government Executive:
the IRS division tasked with processing original and amended tax returns has hired just 50 employees in anticipation of the 2026 filing season, or 2% of its authorized level. It can take up to 80 days to train new employees, the IG said, meaning employees hired now may not be ready to assist during filing season at all. Accounts Management, which handles IRS customer service, has hired just 66% of the filing season employees for which it has been authorized.
