IRS Lays Off NJ Workers As Tax Season Begins

What To Know Summary:

• 113 layoffs in New Jersey alone, at offices around the state.
• 6-7 percent of the IRS workforce could be impacted.
• The layoffs primarily target new and recently-promoted employees.

Full article:

NEW JERSEY — More than 110 New Jersey employees of the Internal Revenue Service were laid off last week amid ongoing federal cuts, according to the president of the union representing them. This comes as the Trump administration moves to shrink the federal workforce across multiple agencies.

This included probationary workers at offices in Mays Landing, Cherry Hill, Trenton, Edison, Newark, Iselin, Paramus, Parsippany, and Freehold who were members of the National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 60.

Roughly 7,000 probationary workers around the country were laid off beginning last Thursday, sources told the Associated Press. The IRS has roughly 90,000 employees total across the United States, according to the latest data.

Tom Knauss, president of NTEU Chapter 60, said the IRS had spent the last 18 months training these new hires, "many of whom examined complex tax issues involving large, multinational corporations, local governmental entities, pension funds, high income filers with extensive tax returns, and smaller corporations."

He said the agency had to divert more senior employees to train these workers over the past year and a half.

"In one fell swoop, the time and resources spent on this endeavor got flushed down the toilet for imaginary short term savings," he told Patch.

NTEU Chapter 60 represents IRS employees in New Jersey, with 750 members at last count, Knauss said. Several employees outside the bargaining unit were also released, he said.

Losing these employees will leave the IRS "ill-equipped" to examine complex and multilayered tax returns, and make it easier for companies and individuals to "take short cuts and pay less than their fair share" without fear of getting caught, Knauss said.

Many of the newly-hired employees were military veterans, Knauss said. Some had relocated their families to New Jersey only to lose their jobs, including one who moved from Virginia earlier this month. He said Thursday, the day the layoffs were announced, was "emotionally grueling" for the impacted employees, their manager, and their colleagues.

"Several members mentioned that this had been their dream job, and they struggled for years to get it only for it to be taken away from them so suddenly and needlessly," he said.

He added that some of the behind-the-scenes employees who work at taxpayer assistance centers have also been let go.

Up To 7 Percent Of Workforce Could Be Impacted

Action News reports the layoffs will represent 6 percent to 7 percent of the IRS's 100,000-person workforce, and that the layoffs target new and newly promoted employees.

It's unclear how many IRS workers will be affected in total. It's also unclear what these layoffs could mean for taxpayers as the day to file taxes, April 15, grows closer.

The Trump administration had previously announced a plan to offer buyouts to almost all federal employees through a “deferred resignation program” to quickly reduce the government workforce. The program deadline was Feb. 6, and administration officials said employees who accept will be able to stop working while still collecting a paycheck until Sept. 30.

However, IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were told they will not be allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until after the taxpayer filing deadline, according to a letter sent recently to IRS employees.

Impact To Taxpayers As Tax Season Underway

Jan. 27 was the official start date of the 2025 tax season, and the IRS expects more than 140 million tax returns to be filed by the April 15 deadline.

Taxpayers will notice a few changes when they file their 2024 federal income tax returns.

Some of the changes announced by the Internal Revenue Service involve tax brackets adjusted for inflation, while others are aimed at protecting taxpayers from scams and schemes and tax professionals from having their credentials compromised.

Here's more about what you need to know about tax season.

Patch's Max Bennett contributed to this article.