Staffing Shortfalls May Strain IRS Service in 2026, Reports Warn

Staffing challenges at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are set to impact taxpayers and federal employees during the 2026 tax season. That’s the warning from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) and National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Erin Collins. 

In two separate reports, both cited concerns with staffing levels due to workforce reductions throughout the first year of President Trump’s second term, as well as hiring efforts hampered by the record-long 2025 government shutdown. 

The memo from Deputy Inspector General for Audit Diana Tengesdal found that the IRS is now at 2021 staffing levels, already affecting the IRS’s ability to fulfill its mission.

According to TIGTA, there were over two million inventories waiting to be processed as of December 2025, more than one million above pre-pandemic levels, and a half million above December 2024 levels. 

“Inventory that is not worked during the current processing year will be carried into the 2026 Filing Season and may affect the IRS’s ability to timely process tax returns during the filing season, especially with reduced staff. This could result in delays in taxpayers receiving refunds and could result in the IRS paying interest,” wrote Tengesdal. 

NTA Collins noted that the IRS employee count fell from over 102,000 people to 74,000 in December in 2025. 

“Many departing employees were experienced workers whose institutional knowledge and technical expertise cannot easily be replaceable,” wrote NTA Collins.

The NTA report also noted that the IRS is facing a perfect storm when accounting for staff losses, “leadership turnover, and the implementation of extensive and complex tax law changes mandated by the [One Big Beautiful Bill] Act, many of which apply retroactively and require significant IRS programming, guidance, changes to tax forms and instructions, and taxpayer education.”

Service Goals Reduced

Due to the staffing issues, Tengesdal wrote that the IRS is reducing telephone service goals. The goal is 70 percent instead of 85 percent for this filing season. The last time the IRS achieved a level of service at 70 percent or lower was during the 2022 filing season. That year, the level of service was 18 percent due to the surge in calls after the pandemic.   

This is equivalent to representatives answering fewer than one-in-five incoming calls to the IRS toll-free lines. 

Meanwhile, TIGTA notes that staffing of Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TAC) for face-to-face taxpayer help, can vary daily due to illness, staff departures, or staff taking other IRS positions. As of December 2025, 35 TAC offices are closed. 

Nevertheless, NTA Collins says most taxpayers should not face difficulties filing in 2026. She noted that “the success of the filing season will be defined by how well the IRS is able to assist the millions of taxpayers who experience problems.”

Tax season began on January 26. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and IRS CEO Frank Bisignano have said they expect a smooth filing season. 

Bisignano also announced a leadership shakeup, saying that he’s "confident that with this new team in place, the IRS is well-prepared to deliver a successful tax filing season for the American public."