The IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers in the middle of tax season, according to two sources familiar with the agency’s plans, and cuts could come as soon as next week.

Summary

The IRS will lay off thousands of probationary workers during tax season as part of the Trump administration’s push to shrink the federal workforce.

The cuts align with a broader initiative led by Elon Musk’s DOGE to eliminate agencies and reduce spending.

While the exact number of affected workers is unclear, the layoffs could impact tax processing for over 140 million returns.

Meanwhile, 14 state attorneys general have sued, arguing DOGE’s authority is unconstitutional and requires Senate confirmation.

  • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
    54·
    4 days ago

    Remember that “impact tax processing” really means “delayed refunds”…

      • Nastybutler@lemmy.world
        17·
        4 days ago

        I dunno. You’re assuming he’s making rational, judicious cuts, rather than sloppily slashing through systems he has no understanding of.

        I’m seriously considering not having tax withholdings taken out automatically, putting it into savings myself, and then just waiting to see if anyone from the IRS ever asks for it

        • MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net
          5·
          4 days ago

          I don’t disagree. But I would say that making sure you have the funds if they come calling falls under “bothering with it.” CYA is a good policy.

        • Thunderbird4@lemmy.world
          1·
          3 days ago

          I had the same idea and looked into it. If you’re a salaried employee, the only way to not have withholdings taken from your paychecks is to claim withholding exemption on your W4, which you can only legally do if you had no tax burden last year and expect to have none this year. The threshold for that is really low, like $13,800/yr I think.

          You can always try it anyway, but if they do come looking for their money, there will be penalties to pay on top of the tax amount.

          It sucks because even just a high yield savings account could make you an extra $800 or so on your income tax money if you just held it and paid as a lump sum.

          • skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de
            2·
            3 days ago

            One should be able to at least do some exemptions on the W4, as long as some amount of money is paid each quarter. So it wouldn’t be as effective as a blanket halt of payment, but if everyone collectively reduced payments, it would have some effect while not breaking any laws. (Just save that money in a high yield savings account to pay it when it’s due the next year.)

      • Deello@lemm.ee
        6·
        4 days ago

        They couldn’t find those nuclear engineers a few days ago and now it’s come out that ICE is struggling to find illegal immigrants with a criminal record. You might be giving them to much credit but they will certainly spend the money to try. This administration is fumbling it’s way to fascism. It’s not stupid if it works. The sad part is it’s working.

      • stopdropandprole@lemmy.world
        3·
        4 days ago

        (not a financial advisor) unless you’re making orders of magnitude more money than the rest of us plebs on Lemmy, you don’t get taken to jail for minor tax evasion. you just get a bill at most a couple grand. at this point I’m starting to think millions of Americans should consider the option, even as as form of protest against an injust tyrannical government.

  • CLOTHESPlN@lemmy.world
    4·
    3 days ago

    Just a reminder for everybody, employment status term “probationary” within the government is not the same as general populations understanding. It means effectively new hire, generally under 12 months, not “they messed up and are on PIP or underperforming”

    • Spacehooks@reddthat.comEnglish
      1·
      3 days ago

      He campaigned on half the pop not paying taxes the first time. Would be interesting If he did something like that instead of focusing on immigration.

      I couldn’t find a source but I remember everyone talking about it at work and it was something that made people i knew want to vote for him.

  • chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world
    131·
    4 days ago

    And this is why I filed my return in January. I knew Trump was going to screw with the IRS in ways that would affect returns, so I got mine in as early as I could.

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
      8·
      4 days ago

      And this is why I’m waiting until April 15th, as with a slight increase in income and tax increases thanks to Trump’s 2018 tax bill, we found out we owe $4200 this year.