A traffic light is red outside the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building after it was reported the IRS will lay off about 6,700 employees, a restructuring that could strain the tax-collecting agency’s resources during the critical tax-filing season, in Washington, D.C., Feb. 20, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
Around 20,000 Internal Revenue Service employees have expressed interest in accepting the Trump administration’s latest deferred resignation offer, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC on Tuesday.
The agency, which grew to more than 102,000 workers in 2024, would shrink by roughly 20% if all of those staffers ultimately take the buyout offer.
Those who accept will go on paid leave through the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
The looming IRS exodus was revealed on the day of the deadline for Americans to file their income tax returns.
The Federal News Network, citing an internal document, on Tuesday reported that the IRS plans to cut up to 40% of its workforce by the time its reduction-in-force efforts are complete.
Roughly 12,000 IRS staffers and probationary employees have resigned or been laid off since January, according to The New York Times, which reported on the resignation offer earlier Tuesday.
It was unclear when the agency would follow up with the employees who are interested in resigning, according to the source who spoke to CNBC. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an internal matter.
A spokesperson for the Treasury Department, which oversees the IRS, told CNBC in a statement that the number of revenue service employees leaving under President Donald Trump is “approximately the same” as the number added to the agency under former President Joe Biden.
“The roll back of wasteful Biden-era hiring surges, and consolidation of critical support functions are vital to improve both efficiency and quality of service,” the spokesperson said.
“The Secretary is committed to ensuring that efficiency is realized while providing the collections, privacy, and customer service the American people deserve.”
Shortly after Trump took office in January, his administration offered buyouts across the government to rapidly and drastically shrink the size of the federal workforce.
The White House said at that time that it expects around 10% of eligible workers to take the resignation offers.
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