How Latest IRS Layoffs Could Impact Your Tax Return

If you're waiting for your tax refund, you might have to wait longer this year. That's because major layoffs at the Internal Revenue Service could impact returns, experts say. The layoffs of thousands of IRS probationary workers beginning this week could spell disaster for revenue collections, experts say.

The majority of employees shown the door at the federal tax collector are newly hired workers focused on compliance, which includes ensuring that taxpayers are abiding by the tax code and paying delinquent debts, among other duties.

The IRS layoffs, one of the largest purges of probationary workers this year across the government, could hurt customer service and tax return processing during tax season this year, the union representing Treasury Department employees warned Thursday.

Chye-Ching Huang, executive director of NYU’s Tax Law Center, called the layoffs “misguided” and said they "will hurt everyday Americans who pay their taxes and count on the IRS to pay refunds on time while encouraging wealthy people and large businesses to cheat on their taxes.”

Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said: “In the middle of a tax filing season, when taxpayers expect prompt customer service and smooth processing of their tax returns, the administration has chosen to decimate the whole operation by sending dedicated civil servants to the unemployment lines.”

The upheaval comes less than two months before the tax filing deadline and as the Department of Government Efficiency under Trump adviser Elon Musk seeks to shrink the size of the federal workforce in an effort to radically cut spending and restructure the government’s priorities.

Already filed your tax return and looking to see when you might receive your refund?

According to the Internal Revenue Service, some 140 million people are expected to file their returns by Tax Day, on April 15. When tax season officially opened for filing on Jan. 27, IRS officials said the system had already received "millions of tax returns from across the nation for processing."

While you aren't expected to receive a refund immediately, there are ways to ensure you get it faster. Here's what to know about getting your federal and Illinois refund during tax season, and how long it could take.

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