IRS Pivots to Fill Holes in Tax Filing Season After DOGE Cuts

Time is running out to file your taxes to the IRS as the April 15 deadline approaches.

But for the IRS, the work is only just beginning and it's off to a rocky start.

Elon Musk's Department Government Efficiency in 2025 pressured about a quarter of the IRS's workforce to leave, and the agency is on its seventh leader in the span of a little over a year. The agency also managed during one of the longest shutdowns in US history and a presidential-mandated hiring freeze.

That meant the IRS had to change direction for the 2026 filing season.

IRS workers from the human resources and technology divisions were told they'd be helping out process tax returns—an unusual move for the agency. Customer service workers at the start of the season weren't fully trained and critical tax season tech also wasn't ready.

Bloomberg Tax's Erin Schilling and Erin Slowey spoke with David Schultz about the implications of the decisions of DOGE and what that means for taxpayers.

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