"filing season. The reassigned workers, who are being detailed out on an involuntary basis, are coming from the IRS human resources and, potentially, the IT departments. Some employees reported that supervisors first asked for anyone who had experience in the front-line fields to consider the roles, but they ultimately chose many individuals with no prior experience working directly on tax issues."
"The IRS division tasked with processing original and amended tax returns has hired just 50 employees in anticipation of the 2026 filing season, or 2% of its authorized level. It can take up to 80 days to train new employees, the IG said, meaning employees hired now may not be ready to assist during filing season at all. Accounts Management, which handles IRS customer service, has hired just 66% of the filing season employees for which it has been authorized."
The Internal Revenue Service is reassigning seasoned employees without direct tax experience to answer phones and process tax returns on an involuntary basis. Reassigned workers are coming from human resources and potentially IT, and many lacked prior front‑line tax experience despite initial requests for volunteers with relevant background. The agency reduced its workforce by more than 20,000 employees, over 20% in the last year, and divisions handling returns and customer service lost about 8,300 workers, or 17% of staff. The returns processing unit hired roughly 50 employees (about 2% of authorized levels), training can take up to 80 days, and Accounts Management has filled roughly 66% of authorized filing‑season positions. Staffing shortfalls have increased backlogs and risk delaying returns and slowing taxpayer service.
Read at Nextgov.com
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