The IRS Furlough - Is it a Crisis or a Revelation
What’s your take: Is the real problem IRS funding, or the tax code itself? Or both?
Currently, roughly half of the IRS workforce is furloughed. The work hasn’t gone anywhere-tax filings and payments will still be due, and families are stuck waiting. Workers don’t know if they’ll get back pay. To put it lightly, this situation is a mess.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth being missed: The real problem isn’t the shutdown itself-it’s that we need tens of thousands of people to run our tax system at all.
An Already Broken System
Furloughs are a nightmare scenario. Daily costs exceed $400 million, and there is a tangible impact on people. With this in mind, we must look at what this crisis is also exposing: our tax system is flimsy and broken.
The IRS has dropped from 102,000 to fewer than 76,000 workers this year alone. That’s a 26% cut, and there’s more coming. You might think the cuts are causing these issues, but even before the reductions, the system was failing:
The IRS claimed average phone wait times were three minutes. Watchdogs found that many callers actually waited closer to 20 minutes.
Identity theft victims wait an average of 602 days for resolution. Nearly two years to resolve identity theft—would you want to wait that long?
Improper payment rates for programs like the earned income tax credit range from 22% to 26%.
This isn’t just a budget crisis-this system was never designed to handle what we’re asking of it.
We’ve Been Here Before
Are you familiar with the large-scale IRS reorganization of 1998? Congress promised better assistance and efficiency. If this sounds familiar, it should-decades later, we’re still dealing with identical concerns. Why? Because you can’t reorganize your way out of administering an impossible system. The complexity is the disease; the IRS is just the symptom.
A Partisan Misunderstanding
Democrats push for more funding and staff. Republicans want to slash and burn the agency. Both are mistaken.
More money won’t fix a tax code designed for political bartering and special interests. But gutting the IRS without simplifying the code just guarantees worse service and more frustration.
Here’s a simple breakdown: Americans pay twice. First, through taxes that fund this giant bureaucracy, then again to TurboTax and accountants to navigate this self-created labyrinth.
Technology Isn’t A Savior
People think AI will provide a fix. Technology helps-it can flag fraud and speed up processing. But here’s what technology can’t do: automate chaos. Software can’t make complicated simple.
If the tax code were actually straightforward, most people could file in minutes without assistance, and we wouldn’t need a legion to facilitate it.
What Simple Would Look Like
Can you imagine filing your taxes in minutes rather than days? No more paying hundreds of dollars for help interpreting rules that even the IRS struggles with. No more loopholes that complicate the process. Done with hostile relationships between taxpayers and government.
Other countries have found success with this. They have pre-filled returns and simplified filings. We could see the same results if Congress cared more about transparency than managing their voter base.
The Real Solution
The current debate over IRS funding is looking in all the wrong places. We can fix this, but we need to:
Begin with revolutionary simplification. Scrap the challenges brought on by deductions, credits, and exemptions. Replace them with broad bases and clear rates. Every loophole has its own lobby, but the current system doesn’t serve the general public well.
Modernize the technology. Create systems that work with streamlined code-simplify first, then let technology do its job.
Right-size the agency. Establish staffing levels that reflect actual workload, rather than bouncing between hiring sprees and furloughs.
The Bottom Line
This is a crisis, and we’d be foolish to just return to the status quo and pretend all is fine. If identity theft victims wait two years for service and we’re waiting 20 minutes for a conversation, returning to what’s already not working is an epic failure.
The question isn’t whether the IRS is bloated-it is. The real question is: why do we want to support a system designed for bloat just to be dysfunctional?
Until Congress addresses this, we’ll keep repeating the same cycle: crisis, patch, decline, repeat.
Your Turn
What’s your worst IRS experience? Do you think simplification could have prevented it? Drop your story below.
Congress needs to hear our perspective. Share this post. The more people talk about actual solutions instead of political theater, the better.
Congress needs to hear our perspective. Share this post. The more people talk about actual solutions, the better - time to move on from political theater.
CITATIONS
IRS Staffing Reductions (25,000+ employees lost, 102,000 to 76,000):
Tax Lane, “IRS Staffing Cuts In 2025: What Taxpayers And Professionals Need To Know”
Wait Times Misreporting (3 minutes claimed vs 17-19 minutes actual):
CPA Practice Advisor, “IRS Didn’t Accurately Report Wait Times for Taxpayers Calling for Help” (September 2, 2025)
CFO Dive, “IRS underreports wait times for taxpayers phoning in for help: TIGTA”
https://cfodive.com/news/irs-underreports-wait-times-taxpayers-phone-help-tigta
Forbes, “Watchdog Says IRS Could Do Better Reporting Telephone Service”
Identity Theft Resolution Time (602 days/20 months):
Taxpayer Advocate Service, “Review of the 2025 Filing Season” [PDF]
https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/wp-content/uploads/review-of-the-2025-filing-season.pdf
Budget Cuts (37% budget reduction, 20% staffing cuts in FY 2026):
The Tax Adviser, “IRS budget request cuts 20% of employees in 2026, increases enforcement” (June 2025)
https://thetaxadviser.com/news/2025/jun/irs-budget-request-cuts-20-employees-2026
Congressional Hearings (September 2025):
Various TIGTA reports referenced in documents
Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee:
Ways and Means Committee, “Smith: Taxpayers Benefit from Modernization of IRS Under Trump” (September 25, 2025)
“One, Big, Beautiful Bill” Act (2025):
IRS.gov, “One, Big, Beautiful Bill provisions”
Ways and Means 2025 Tax Proposals:
Pillsbury Law, “Ways & Means Releases Proposed 2025 Federal Income Tax...”
https://pillsburylaw.com/en/news-and-insights/ways-means-releases-proposed-2025-federal-income-tax
Senate Finance Committee Tax Reform:
Taxpayer Advocate Mid-Year Report (June 25, 2025):
Taxpayer Advocate Service, “Rain or Shine: The IRS Must Prepare Now for Next Year’s Filing Season”
https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/nta-blog/rain-or-shine-the-irs-must-prepare-now
2025 Filing Season Start (January 27):
IRS, “IRS announces January 27 start to 2025 tax filing season” (IR-2025-08, January 10, 2025)
https://irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-jan-27-start-to-2025-tax-filing-season
Direct Deposit Statistics (94%):
Taxpayer Advocate Service, “As the IRS Phases Out Paper Checks, Vulnerable Taxpayers Must...”
https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/nta-blog/as-the-irs-phases-out-paper-checks
EITC Improper Payment Rates (22-26%, over-claim 29-39%):
Tax Policy Center, “What are error rates for refundable credits and what causes them?”
Former IRS Executives on Modernization Cuts:
FedScoop, “Former IRS executives explain the impact of DOGE cuts”
Math Error Notices:
Taxpayer Advocate Service, “Math Error Notices: What You Need to Know”
https://taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/nta-blog/math-error-notices
Government Shutdown/Furlough Information:
Forbes, “IRS Halts Most Taxpayer Services As It Furloughs Nearly Half Its Workers”
https://forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/irs-halts-most-taxpayer-services-furloughs
CBO, “Potential Effects of a Federal Government Shutdown” [PDF]
https://cbo.gov/system/files/potential-effects-federal-government-shutdown.pdf
IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998:
Wikipedia, “Internal Revenue Service”