Musk Group Seeks to Cut 20% of IRS Workforce by May 15 (1)

The Trump administration wants to cut the IRS workforce by 20% by May 15—including those who have already left or were fired, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Officials at the Elon Musk-led group advising the administration want Acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krause to eliminate 18,141 jobs across the agency, the source said. This includes the roughly 12,000 employees terminated as part of new-hire layoffs and those who took a deferred resignation offer.

The largest job cuts would be in enforcement at 8,260 of employees, followed by taxpayer services with 3,247, and a small portion in information technology, the source said. Earlier this year the IRS had about 100,000 employees.

The Trump administration has promised that firings at the agency won’t disturb filing season that ends April 15, a month before the reduction in force is set to take place. Federal agencies were directed to submit plans by March 13 for “large-scale reductions in force,” the first phase of President Donald Trump’s effort to slash the size of the US government.

Critics of the layoffs have warned that it could dissuade people from paying what they owe in taxes and could delay refunds. A study from Yale University’s The Budget Lab, a nonpartisan policy research center, said if the IRS shrinks by 50% it would result in $395 billion forgone revenue over 10 years.

“That’s a huge gift to wealthy tax cheats,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), ranking member on the panel with jurisdiction over the IRS, adding that it will be harder for the IRS to do enforcement. Wyden said he’s looking at next steps.

Supporters, though, say it gives the IRS an opportunity to rethink its structure and rely more heavily on technology.

The IRS, which has had multiple leadership reshufflings in the last few months, got tens of billions of funding in the 2022 tax-and-climate law called the Inflation Reduction Act to modernize, focus on tax cheats, and improve customer service. That funding has since shrunk and is the target of more pullbacks by Republicans.

CNN and the Washington Post first reported the plan.