IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season
The sign outside the Internal Revenue Service building is seen. May 4, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season, according to two sources familiar with the agency’s plans, and cuts could happen as soon as next week.
This comes as the Trump administration intensified sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection.
It’s unclear how many IRS workers will be affected.
Previously, the administration announced a plan to offer buyouts to almost all federal employees through a “deferred resignation program” to quickly reduce the government workforce. The program deadline was Feb. 6, and administration officials said employees who accept will be able to stop working while still collecting a paycheck until Sept. 30.
However, IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were told they will not be allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until after the taxpayer filing deadline, according to a letter sent recently to IRS employees.
It is unclear how many workers will be impacted by the layoff announcement plan. Representatives from the U.S. Treasury and IRS did not respond to Associated Press requests for comment.
Jan. 27 was the official start date of the 2025 tax season, and the IRS expects more than 140 million tax returns to be filed by the April 15 deadline. The Biden administration invested heavily in the IRS through an $80 billion infusion of funds in Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, which included plans to hire tens of thousands of new employees to help with customer service and enforcement as well as new technology to update the tax collection agency.
Republicans have been successful at clawing back that money, and billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have called for the U.S. to “delete entire agencies” from the federal government as part of his to radically cut spending and restructure its priorities.
Elected officials are trying to fight against DOGE plans. Attorneys general from 14 states challenged the authority of to access sensitive government data and exercise “virtually unchecked power” in a lawsuit filed Thursday.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, says the actions taken by Musk at the helm of DOGE can only be taken by a nominated and Senate-confirmed official. It cites constitutional provisions that delineate the powers of Congress and the president.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Kansas City IRS workers brace for mass layoff. Union fears 1,000 workers will be cut
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Internal Revenue Service employees in Kansas City are bracing for upwards of 1,000 layoffs this week, a mass termination that would rock a major employer in the metro.
National Treasury Employees Union, or NTEU, Chapter 66 president Shannon Ellis told The Star on Tuesday that the union had been informed by IRS leadership that probationary employees would be let go, though the agency hadn’t confirmed exact numbers.
Ellis said the IRS had already gathered lists of 1st and 2nd-year probationary employees. She estimated that laying off those workers would affect roughly 1,000 people at a minimum on the Kansas City campus located near Union Station.
Calls to an IRS media line weren’t answered. At one point, the line appeared busy.
The anticipated layoffs come as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, initiative led by the billionaire Elon Musk has made its way through a variety of federal agencies, including the IRS. Since President Donald Trump took office last month, thousands of federal workers in numerous departments have been fired or laid off.
“What people really don’t understand is that we take an oath to complete the mission to the taxpayers, to the American people,” Ellis said, adding that revenue collected through taxes fund dozens of programs. She raised the possibility that layoffs could slow the processing of federal tax returns this spring.
The IRS’s Kansas City campus employs more than 4,000 workers, including many who help process returns. The Associated Press, citing unnamed sources, has reported that the agency was expected to lay off thousands of probationary employees nationwide.
Megan Strickland, a spokesperson for Mayor Quinton Lucas, said the mayor hadn’t received any official information regarding the possible layoffs, but would advocate with the city’s federal delegation to protect positions of affected employees.
“One of Missouri’s great Republican leaders, Kit Bond, helped bring thousands of federal jobs to Kansas City at the IRS. Our local IRS workers deliver vital services to the American people. Our workers are good American mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers,” Strickland said in a statement.
NTEU Chapter 66 on Tuesday was advising all employees to print out key documents, including recent pay stubs and annual appraisals. Layoffs elsewhere in the federal government have taken place with immediate effect, leaving workers little time to gather records.
The union was preparing for the layoffs to occur Wednesday, but Ellis cautioned that winter weather could delay the action by a day if the campus was closed. She said the union is also planning a rally on March 15 at noon near the campus.
In a video posted to Facebook on Tuesday afternoon, Ellis said “they’ve beefed up security” on campus in anticipation of collecting badges and walking employees off the premises.
“This is unacceptable and I am furious that this is happening on our campus and we are in the middle of tax season,” Ellis said. “So yes, we know that the public will be impacted.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 3:17 PM.
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