Senate Dems question IRS's readiness for tax season

Al Drago/Bloomberg

In a letter to Treasury Secretary and acting Internal Revenue Service commissioner Scott Bessent, 17 Senate Democrats said they have "serious concerns" about the IRS's readiness for the imminent tax season.

According to a a report by ABC News, the 17 senators, led by Massachusetts' Elizabeth Warren and Maine's Angus King (who is an Independent, but caucuses with the Democrats), warned that taxpayers "may face delays and difficulties in filing returns and receiving refunds."

The letter comes after a year in which the IRS has lost as much as 25% of its staff, including many of its more experienced agents, and in which Congress passed a major piece of tax legislation that includes many provisions that will have an impact on the coming tax season.

The agency has also had no less than seven commissioners and acting commissioners since the beginning of 2025, with Bessent currently doing double duty as both Treasury secretary and acting commissioner, and Frank Bisignano serving in the newly created role of IRS CEO, while also doing double duty as commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

In a statement to ABC News, Warren said, "Donald Trump's endless attacks on the IRS are good news for his billionaire buddies and giant tax prep companies, but bad news for Americans getting ready for filing season. Americans rely on the IRS to file their taxes and get their tax refunds quickly and easily, and I'm pressing for answers."

The senators' letter also cited a report from late September from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which outlined a number of potential problems.

"We expect workforce reductions to impact key processing programs and customer service going forward," the report warned. "We are concerned about how this will impact the 2026 filing season. Key IRS functions responsible for managing the filing season have lost 17 to 19% of their workforce. The IRS initiated a Zero Paper Initiative effort to expand scanning and digital processing of paper-filed tax returns. It was expected to mitigate the impact of some of the staffing losses on the 2026 filing season. However, the initiative is already delayed."

"Staffing losses in the IRS's information technology function and recently enacted legislation create additional challenges for the IRS as it prepares for the 2026 filing season," the report continued. "The One Big Beautiful Bill Act will require the IRS to make substantial changes ahead of the 2026 filing season, but the agency will have fewer information technology resources to timely update processing systems."

A group of former IRS commissioners shared similar concerns at an AICPA tax conference in November, with John Koskinen, who served as commissioner from 2013 to 2017, predicting there will be problems with taxpayer service next filing season.

"I think the level of taxpayer service is going to be very difficult to deal with," he said. "I keep waiting for the administration just to blame the employees. It won't be the fault of the employees, I can guarantee you. The one thing I'm confident of is they're going to do the best they can for you, the best they can for taxpayers, and the best they can for the government."