About 20,000 Internal Revenue Service employees have expressed interest in accepting the Trump administration’s latest deferred resignation offer. If all these staffers take the buyout, the IRS would shrink by about 20%. The Treasury Department stated that the number of IRS employees potentially leaving under President Donald Trump is “approximately the same” as the number added to the agency under former President Joe Biden.
The IRS workforce, which grew to over 102,000 employees in 2024, could be reduced by roughly 20% if the resignation offer is fully taken up. Those who accept the offer will be put on paid leave through the current fiscal year, ending September 30. This information was disclosed on the day Americans were required to file their income tax returns.
The massive interest in the deferred resignation offer suggests significant changes ahead for the tax agency.
Irs employees express buyout interest
Approximately 12,000 IRS staffers and probationary employees have already resigned or been laid off since January, as per sources.
The IRS has plans to cut up to 40% of its workforce by the time its reduction-in-force efforts are complete, according to internal documents. However, it remains unclear when the agency will follow up with the employees interested in the resignation offer. A source familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity, while a Treasury Department spokesperson emphasized that reducing wasteful, Biden-era hiring surges and consolidating support functions are crucial for improving efficiency and service quality.
The Secretary is committed to ensuring that efficiency is realized while providing the collections, privacy, and customer service the American people deserve,” said the spokesperson. Shortly after taking office, President Trump’s administration extended buyout offers across the government to rapidly shrink the size of the federal workforce. The White House projected that around 10% of eligible workers would take the resignation offers at that time.
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