IRS Taxpayer Experience, Diversity Workers Fired in Latest Purge (1)

IRS workers in the Taxpayer Experience Office and the Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in Taxpayer Services will be fired in the latest round of layoffs by the Trump administration at the agency, according to an email seen by Bloomberg Tax.

An unknown number of employees are being notified Friday they will be laid off as part of the agency’s reduction in force. The latest projection is the IRS is cutting upwards of 25% of its workforce this year, including those who took the incentives to leave the agency.

The Taxpayer Experience Office was created to boost customer service after years of agency budget cuts. It was hailed by former IRS chief Chuck Rettig, appointed by Trump in his first term, at the time.

“The formal establishment of this office will help unify and expand efforts across the IRS to improve service to taxpayers,” Rettig said.

The Trump administration has also been dismantling any offices associated with diversity, equity and inclusion.

The administration aims to reverse Biden-era expansion at the IRS and other agencies, promising to shrink the federal workforce quickly. The firings and pressure to more broadly share taxpayer data have led to an exodus at the top of the agency.

This round of layoffs comes after more than 20,000 employees took the deferred resignation offer, though a fraction of those were denied this offer.

Cuts at the agency have sparked warnings from tax experts about a subsequent drop in audits of the wealthiest taxpayers and decline in customer service.