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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesIn February 2025, the IRS planned to lay off thousands of probationary and career-conditional employees while the filing season was underway. The initial Associated Press report said the precise number was unclear; a later congressional letter described the plan as affecting approximately 7,000 probationary employees. Those figures are not the same as the IRS’s broader staffing decline later that spring.
What happened in February 2025?
On February 15, 2025, the Associated Press reported that the IRS planned to lay off thousands of probationary and career-conditional employees, with cuts potentially beginning the following week. The report, citing two people familiar with the plan, said the number affected was not clear at that time. The announcement came after the filing season opened on January 27 and before the April 15 federal deadline. Associated Press, February 15, 2025
A March 5, 2025 letter from members of Congress characterized the plan as involving approximately 7,000 probationary IRS employees. That is the lawmakers’ later description; it should not be mistaken for a definitive count in the initial news report. House members’ letter, March 5, 2025
How many IRS workers were laid off?
The available figures describe different things, so they cannot be combined into a single February firing total.
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| Figure | What it measures | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Thousands; exact number unclear | Planned layoffs reported February 15, 2025 | The Associated Press’s contemporaneous account of the plan. |
| Approximately 7,000 | Probationary employees in the plan | A figure given in a March 5, 2025 congressional letter. |
| 103,000 employees in January 2025 to approximately 77,000 in May 2025; a 25% decline | Total IRS staffing change over several months | TIGTA’s broad headcount comparison, not the count of February layoffs. It encompasses overall workforce reductions and departures. |
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration also reported that about 27% of tax examiners and 26% of revenue agents had left the agency by its May 2025 staffing snapshot. Those occupational figures likewise describe departures by that date, not a confirmed tally of employees dismissed in February. TIGTA, “UPDATE: IRS Workforce Reductions (as of May 2025)”
Why did the timing matter to taxpayers?
The filing season is the IRS’s annual peak period for receiving and processing returns, answering questions, and issuing refunds. The Government Accountability Office says the agency processes more than 150 million paper and electronic individual and business returns and issues hundreds of billions of dollars in refunds during an annual filing season. A plan to reduce staff during that period therefore raised concerns about the agency’s capacity while taxpayers were filing and waiting for service. GAO-26-108116, 2026
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The February report described a plan, not a claim that every affected employee was removed on February 15. It said cuts could start the following week.
Did the layoffs delay refunds?
The available reporting does not establish that the February 2025 layoffs caused a particular taxpayer’s refund delay. Later reports document both a reduced workforce and service problems, but do not isolate the effect of those planned layoffs.
The National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2026 report on 2025 service said about 3.6 million taxpayers received refunds beyond the IRS’s normal processing time. Average waits were seven weeks for electronic filers and 14 weeks for paper filers. It also reported that identity-theft victim assistance cases took an average of more than 21 months to resolve. These are important service measures, but they do not by themselves prove that the February plan caused the delays. National Taxpayer Advocate, 2025 Annual Report to Congress
GAO found that the correspondence backlog remained above pre-pandemic levels at the end of the 2025 filing season and fiscal year 2025. It recommended that the IRS plan for the loss of thousands of filing-season staff and align workforce planning with its strategic plans. GAO-26-108116, 2026
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How did officials assess the 2025 filing season?
National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins wrote: “Among the reasons the 2025 filing season went well was that the IRS had its largest workforce in many years and faced no major tax law changes that required implementation during the filing season.” That assessment points to staffing and the absence of major tax-law implementation as reasons the season went well; it is not evidence that workforce cuts had no effects. National Taxpayer Advocate, 2025 Annual Report to Congress
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What later claims about IRS departures mean
A June 2026 press release from Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office cited reporting that nearly 30,000 workers had been fired or otherwise left in the prior year and said the IRS was scrambling to hire thousands. That is a claim recited in a political press release, not a reconciled official count of the February 2025 probationary layoffs. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office, June 2026
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