A Trumpified IRS faces its first big test

The IRS is navigating this tax season with fewer workers, new GOP tax breaks, and a growing reliance on AI

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The Internal Revenue Service has its latest challenge: Weathering another tax season in a GOP-dominated Washington.

The IRS has cycled through seven agency chiefs in the year since President Donald Trump re-entered the Oval Office last year. There are roughly 20% fewer IRS employees compared to the end of October 2024, the product of mass firings and resignations. In addition, the IRS is exhausting a Biden-era pot of money that once totaled $80 billion and enabled it to improve taxpayer services and pursue cases of tax evasion.

“This entire year has been a stress test for the IRS,” said Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank.

One of the IRS’s chief tasks is administering the slate of new tax........

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