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As tax season opens and the IRS prepares for hundreds of thousands of returns, the agency’s internal watchdog warns that certain taxpayers may have issues in 2026.
Whereas the 2025 submitting season was typically a “easy expertise,” the present yr may current “greater challenges” for some filers, Nationwide Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins stated Wednesday in her annual report to Congress.
With the most important employees in a few years and no main tax regulation adjustments, the IRS processed greater than 165 million particular person returns in 2025, and most filers acquired well timed refunds, she stated.
However “getting into 2026, the panorama is markedly completely different” amid the company’s 27% workforce reduction, management turnover, and implementation of “intensive and sophisticated” tax regulation adjustments enacted by President Donald Trump, Collins wrote.
The 2026 submitting season ought to be “seamless” for taxpayers who file an digital, error-free return with direct deposit for refunds, Collins wrote. However “the success of the submitting season might be outlined by how effectively the IRS is ready to help the hundreds of thousands of taxpayers who expertise issues.”
A report released this week from the Treasury Inspector Basic for Tax Administration, or TIGTA, an impartial federal company, and letter from Senate Democrats despatched Monday additionally voiced considerations concerning the IRS’ readiness for the upcoming tax season.
“The Inner Income Service is able to assist taxpayers meet their tax submitting and cost obligations throughout the 2026 submitting season,” IRS Chief Govt Officer Frank Bisignano said in a statement in early January.
In 2026, many filers may see bigger tax refunds because of the 2025 cuts enacted through Trump’s “huge lovely invoice.” The IRS did not replace tax withholding tables after the midyear change, and lots of filers may see the impact when submitting 2025 returns, consultants say.
Tax refunds have become a focus for the Trump administration as many People wrestle with rising costs of groceries, utilities, clothes and different bills. Affordability is a key challenge for each events in 2026 with the midterm elections approaching.
Attainable submitting season points
Usually, the IRS receives greater than 100 million telephone calls and several other million items of taxpayer correspondence yearly, and the variety of customer support representatives shrank by 22% in 2025, in response to the nationwide taxpayer advocate report.
“Though the IRS backfilled a few of these positions late within the yr, the variety of [customer service representatives] stays considerably decrease than final submitting season, and the brand new hires have much less expertise than the staff who departed,” the report stated.
Amid staffing cuts, “taxpayers could must more and more depend on IRS self-service instruments,” reminiscent of IRS online accounts, a separate TIGTA report from October stated.
