An Agency in Flux
The IRS is navigating a period of significant upheaval, with its workforce reduced from approximately 100,000 in 2025 to around 75,000 staff currently. The reductions include a 30% cut to audit staff and a 20% cut in customer service representatives, leaving remaining employees “working double time,” Slipman said.
Beyond the staffing cuts, the agency has gone through a number of leadership changes in the last year. Slipman explained that at the IRS, “every time there’s a sea change in terms of new leadership, the question is, ‘Okay, what’s the enforcement policy?'” He described the agency’s enforcement policy as top-down. But with all the leadership changes in 2025, “there’s just kind of been a lack of direction,” he added.
To dig deeper, visit the original article on the Thomson Reuters blog.