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‘Absolutely insane’: Moulton, Warren warn of possible effects of Trump’s IRS layoffs on tax refunds
About 6,000 employees are expected to be laid off starting Thursday.
Rep. Seth Moulton advised constituents this week to submit their taxes as soon as possible if they want their tax returns “anytime soon.”
The Trump administration is expected to lay off thousands of probationary workers at the IRS as part of its efforts to cut the size of the federal workforce. Of its 100,000 employees, about 6,000 are expected to be laid off as early as today, many of them relatively recent hires, The New York Times reported.
“Attempts to cut IRS funding are quite ironic coming from the guy who Trump hired to focus on efficiency,” Moulton said in a statement to Boston.com. “Mass IRS layoffs would likely just translate into less revenue collected from wealthy tax cheats and slower return times for the majority of ordinary Americans who follow the rules and file their taxes on time.”
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A spokesperson from Moulton’s office said they have heard from local tax advocacy groups who are concerned about the possibility of “a huge influx” of requests for help this tax season, and that they are fielding calls from constituents worried about their personal data being in the hands of the IRS.
“They’re asking if it’s safe to even file their taxes with the IRS,” Moulton said. “To think that our own executive branch is scaring people away from paying their taxes … it’s absolutely insane.”
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren and eight other senators, including Ron Wyden, a ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to the Trump administration Tuesday outlining their concerns. They advised the administration to immediately lift or clarify its hiring freeze, and warned that reductions in IRS staff would delay tax refunds, impact taxpayer service, and harm law enforcement efforts.
“Americans need the IRS to be fully staffed with employees who can answer their questions, process their returns, send them refunds, and keep IRS systems online and functional,” they wrote.
They described the potential impact on tax filing season — including Americans’ ability to receive their tax refunds on time — as “catastrophic.”
“Millions of Americans plan their budgets around timely refunds every filing season. These reckless decisions … will likely cause serious financial harm for people across the country,” they wrote. “The Trump administration can prevent a tax refund train wreck by avoiding mass layoffs and ending the freeze.”
Tax season began Jan. 27 and returns are due April 15. Refunds generally come in about six to eight weeks after paper returns are filed, and in less than three weeks for those who file their returns online.
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The letter also noted the importance of retaining employees who work for the Criminal Investigations department of the IRS, which has been at the forefront of investigating cartels trafficking fentanyl, human trafficking, terrorism financing, and sanctions evasion. It led the largest international fentanyl/opioid seizure in U.S. history, and has dismantled several of the large trafficking networks run by the Sinaloa cartel, including a collaboration between the cartel and Chinese money laundering organizations.
In a statement shared with Boston.com, Warren said firing thousands of IRS workers in the middle of tax filing season is “the opposite of efficiency.”
“This will only make life harder for the working people who plan their budgets around their tax refunds and the small businesses that rely on IRS workers to help file their taxes,” she said.
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