IRS Buyout Program Accepted by Over 22,000 Employees

By Nathan Layne and Tim Reid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than 22,000 employees at the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have accepted the Trump administration’s latest buyout offer, according to two agency sources on Tuesday.

This month, the deferred resignation program offers workers full pay and benefits until September 30, with most employees informed they will not have to work during their final months.

The voluntary resignation program, similar to one announced in January, allows federal workers accepting it to be on leave with pay until September 30.

The IRS had about 100,000 employees when President Donald Trump began his second term on January 20, but it has since fired 7,000 probationary employees earlier this year, while another 5,000 staff members have left in the past three months.

Fiscal watchdog groups have expressed concerns that losing many workers will hinder the agency’s tax processing and collection efficiency, potentially depriving the U.S. government of significant revenue. The federal government reported a $1.83 trillion deficit last year, contributing to the national debt exceeding $36.6 trillion.

Chye-Ching Huang, executive director of the nonpartisan Tax Law Center at New York University, stated, “I worry that this Administration’s destructive initiatives at IRS will cost the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue while putting taxpayer services and privacy at risk.”

These upcoming departures are part of broader layoffs and buyouts across governmental agencies by Trump’s administration and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to significantly reduce federal bureaucracy, citing its inefficiency and bloat.

As of now, about 200,000 workers have left the 2.3 million-strong civilian federal workforce due to an earlier buyout offer, along with layoffs and resignations.

Musk’s DOGE team has reportedly been inside the IRS for weeks, accessing the agency’s tax collection databases. Musk noted that one of DOGE’s key missions is to eliminate waste and fraud across various government agencies, including the IRS.

In contrast, former Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration increased the IRS workforce by 20,000, arguing that it would enhance tax collection efficiency.