The IRS is operating with at least 25% fewer employees than a year ago, and, as of mid-December 2025, nearly two-thirds of senior leadership positions remained vacant or filled with acting managers, including the commissioner and the chief counsel.
The IRS started 2025 with just over 102,000 employees. As of mid-2025, the IRS has just under 76,000 employees (including employees who took an early resignation offer but are still considered “employed” through September 2025), according to a report from the National Taxpayer Advocate.
According to the January 20, 2025 Presidential Memorandum, the IRS hiring freeze will remain in place until the Secretary of the Treasury determines that hiring additional IRS employees, including TAS caseworkers, is in the “national interest.”12 The complex nature of TAS's work demands an intense training process13 ...
The IRS e-file shutdown 2025 begins on Friday, December 26, 2025, at 11:59 A.M. Eastern Time. During this annual maintenance period, the IRS takes its electronic tax filing system offline to update systems and prepare for the new tax year. The IRS announced it will officially reopen e-file on January 26, 2026.
IRS statement on delay in processing some electronic payments. June 12, 2025 — The IRS is aware that there is a delay in processing some electronic payments, and that some taxpayers are receiving IRS notices indicating a balance due even though payments were made timely.
Here's a summary of key changes for the 2025 tax year. The seven federal tax brackets (10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, 37%) are now permanent. Standard deductions increased, plus a new “bonus” deduction for older adults. Child tax credit increased to $2,200 per qualifying child.
When does the IRS start accepting tax returns? First day to file, how to track tax refunds. Get your W-2s ready. The IRS will begin accepting 2025 tax returns on Jan. 26, when the agency officially opens the 2026 tax filing season.
Think of the IRS right now as an understaffed call center. Reduced phone support, fewer walk-in centers, and slower processing times mean that if your return gets flagged, it could sit there… and sit there.
From October 1 to November 12, 2025, the federal government of the United States was shut down as Congress failed to pass appropriations legislation for the 2026 fiscal year.
At the end of 2025, the individual tax provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) expire all at once. Without congressional action, most taxpayers will see a notable tax increase relative to current policy in 2026.
On July 8, 2025, Trump extended the federal hiring freeze for a second time, this time until October 15, 2025.
The IRS lost around 25 percent of its staff between January and May, shrinking from roughly 103,000 employees to about 77,000, according to a report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
The IRS, which began the year with a roster of about 100,000 employees, has seen its workforce slashed by about a quarter since then. Most of the employees left the agency through the Trump administration's deferred resignation offer.
Due to a lapse in government funding, the federal government entered a shutdown at midnight on September 30, 2025. This means that, starting on October 1, the federal government's operations will be drastically reduced.
The Trump administration has claimed that around 140,000 people had been deported as of April 2025, though some estimates put the number at roughly half that amount.
The IRS froze hiring under a January 2025 presidential memorandum, which provides for an end when “the Secretary of the Treasury … determines that it is in the national interest to lift the freeze.”
February is the busiest period for calls to the Internal Revenue Service's call center. It is also the peak time for visits to IRS offices for face-to-face tax help. The IRS reminds taxpayers that most answers to their tax questions can be quickly found on IRS.gov.
(Additionally, for tax year 2025, the OBBB raises the standard deduction amount to $31,500 for married couples filing jointly. For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction for 2025 is $15,750, and for heads of households, the standard deduction is $23,625.)
You likely received $1400 from the IRS today as a supplemental payment for the 2021 Economic Impact Payment (EIP3), specifically the Recovery Rebate Credit, for people who missed it by not claiming it or leaving it blank on their 2021 tax return. These are "plus-up" payments for those eligible for the third stimulus but didn't get the full amount, often for dependents or due to income changes, with a deadline to claim it by April 2025 by filing a 2021 return if you hadn't already.
Pending Returns Are Within Legal Timelines
Under the Income-tax Act, the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) is allowed up to nine months from the end of the financial year to process returns. For AY 2025–26, which relates to FY 2024–25, the department has time until December 31, 2026.