Multiple Reports Show IRS Staffing Cuts Degraded Tax Season Performance

A Brookings analysis of the 2026 season's data concluded that 2025 staffing cuts and instability at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had degraded the agency’s performance during tax season, including by causing slower processing, degraded phone service, and a growing backlog. The analysis was consistent with a March 16, 2026 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, which found that while the IRS' 2025 filing-season performance was sufficient largely because critical filing-season positions were exempted from the workforce initiatives that reduced the workforce, high staff separations had degraded some post-season performance. The GAO report also noted that the agency cycled through seven commissioners through August 2025, and that the workforce and reorganization uncertainties posed “severe risks to future IRS operations” absent a workforce plan. Likewise, an internal IRS report in December 2025 stated critical technology systems would not be ready for the 2026 season. The inspector general's January 26, 2026 readiness memo echoed the warning.