Turning off at the top of the IRS means fewer IRS agents, fewer audits and fewer questions about implementing new tax laws
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The IRS is the seventh commissioner of the year, losing a quarter of its staff and facing the implementation of many new regulations. It is still unclear whether or not this confusion could affect Americans.
However, the initial impact is likely to be low tax collection and difficult to get answers to tax-related questions, according to the former commissioner and policy analyst.
“To have this level of instability can be quite confident in the direction of impact that it’s not good for the core IRS features and taxpayer services,” says Alex Muresianu, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, a think tank for tax policy. “This level of instability, consistent with the implementation of a new set of tax laws, is a dangerous mix.”
The IRS was the seventh leader on August 8th, taking Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent as temporary chief after President Donald Trump fired Commissioner Billy Long.
Trump has ousted him all the way out 53 days after his job, giving him the shortest tenure of Senate-approved IRS Commissioner.
The IRS Media Office introduced USA Today to the Treasury Department, but no requests for comment were returned on August 12th.
Long, who said he would be appointed as Icelandic ambassador, was the fifth person chosen by Trump to lead the agency since reclaiming his oval office in 2025, but the only person to be approved by the Senate. Biden’s IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel resigned from his five-year position in the first half of January, rather than being fired by Trump.
New priorities for each new leader
Each IRS commissioner will prioritize, move resources and staff and resolve issues differently, Werfel told USA Today.
He said the constant flow of the past eight months likely made it difficult for staff to function.
The job of an IRS commissioner is to make sure the agency works well. Werfel compared it to keeping the train on time.
“Every time we have a new leader, these rules and processes can change,” he said. “It just makes me confused.”
CNN and the Washington Post reported that Long was fired to help the IRS use tax data to clash with the White House and find undocumented immigration allegations. length, The former Republican House member and auctioneer had to start tax season before and plan to eliminate the IRS’ free tax return program.
Fewer agents will be available to process returns and answer taxpayer questions
The Biden administration has added around $80 billion in new IRS funds to collect outstanding taxes, primarily from wealthy people. That money put the agency one of its highest staffing levels just before Trump took office. The new administration began large layoffs almost immediately to reduce the government, offering early retirements to federal employees.
According to the tax management financial inspector, a quarter of IRS staff had left the agency in mid-July.
Among the most challenging hit positions are those responsible for reviewing and processing federal tax returns, as well as agents who perform personal and business audits. Other fired workers were involved in modernizing IRS technology and helping taxpayers over the phone.
Werfel said cuts in staffing delivery will affect customer service unless people’s work is replaced by technology, and there is no indication that they were.
Contacting the IRS is stressful for most taxpayers, Werfel said. Less employees means fewer people answer calls and responding to requests for assistance, fewer interpersonal bookings available, and longer awaiting audit results, he said.
“The higher the function IRS you have, this isn’t too stressful,” he said. “If you’re going to be the director, you want it to be at least a job.”
Less audits means less revenue
Performing fewer audits means that the country is reducing its revenue. Werfel said it should plague Americans who are worried about national debt.
“We should hold our country financially responsible,” he said. “The more money we actually leave on the table we owe the country, the higher the interest rate we need to put our credit card on.”
For example, for every dollar spent auditing America’s highest income earners, the IRS earns more than $4 in taxes recovered, according to the survey.
Werfel said there is an estimated $700 billion in taxes each year, but there are taxes that are not paid.
“It creates an incentive for more people to break the rules, which means they earn less,” he said.
Implementation of the GOP Tax Act
The IRS and Treasury are rushing to launch a new Republican tax law.
Lawmakers left it to the institution to fill out the details of the policy changes. Many of them will be conducting this tax year, including organizing overtime pay, tips and other regulations’ new break finishes.
Tax analyst Muresianu said taxpayers will often need more clarification from the IRS if the new tax laws come into effect, and call volumes are likely to be higher than next year.
“If the IRS has instability, management issues with the IRS, and the ability to reduce services, that’s especially bad when there’s a lot of people who are clear,” he said.
