WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Internal Revenue Service will begin laying off roughly 6,000 employees in the middle of tax season as the Trump administration pushes to downsize the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Sources confirmed the news to The New York Times adding that the terminations will begin with recent and probationary hires in the IRS.
Managers reportedly began asking employees Wednesday to report to the office in the next few days and to bring their government-issued equipment. Approximately 90,000 accountants, lawyers and staff are employed at the IRS across the country.
“Under an executive order, I.R.S. has been directed to terminate probationary employees who were not deemed critical to filing season,” an email reviewed by The New York Times read. “We don’t have many details that we are permitted to share, but this is all tied to compliance with the executive order.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to borrow IRS workers to help with the ongoing immigration crackdown efforts.
It is unclear how the layoffs may affect tax collection services this year.
President Donald Trump said earlier this month that he did not anticipate the IRS being dismantled like other DOGE targets.
“The Internal Revenue Service will be looked at like everyone else. Just about everybody is going to be looked at,” Trump said. “They’re doing a hell of a job, it’s an amazing job they’re doing. That force is building, I call it a force of super-geniuses.”