About 25% of IRS workers planning to take buyout offer

By Marshall Cohen and Rene Marsh, CNN

Washington (CNN) — A staggering 25% of Internal Revenue Service employees are planning to take buyouts and resign, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The deadline for IRS employees to accept the latest round of “deferred resignation” buyout offers was Tuesday morning. The latest numbers indicate that roughly 22,000 people want to take the offer, the sources said. There are only about 90,000 people employed at the IRS, which means about 25% of the workforce is now preparing to leave.

“This is enormous,” one of the sources told CNN.

These numbers are preliminary and could shift as the paperwork is finalized and data is double-checked. Not everyone who signed up for the program will end up resigning – for instance, those who are not eligible. CNN has reached out to the Treasury Department, which includes the IRS, for comment. The IRS did not comment.

This is the second round of buyouts offered by the Trump administration. In the first round, which wrapped in early March, CNN reported that about 4,700 people, or around 5% of the IRS workforce, accepted the offer. The second round has proved much larger.

The Trump administration is aggressively trying to shrink the federal workforce by firing employees, encouraging early retirement, rescinding job offers and giving financial incentives to people who voluntary quit as part of the “deferred resignation” program.

CNN reported last month that the Trump administration and the Elon Musk-aligned Department of Government Efficiency were hoping to drastically cut the IRS workforce at least 20% by firing probationary employees, offering buyouts and taking other steps.

Tax experts and former IRS officials have warned that deep cuts to the agency will reduce federal government revenue and degrade customer service for taxpayers. The high number of employees taking the buyout also speaks to what workers have described as a stressful environment inside the IRS.

“I’m hearing a lot of people accepted the deferred resignation,” one IRS employee in Atlanta said. “The workplace is toxic these days. Morale is low. People try to come in and think positively, but they don’t make it through a full workday without negativity, even in conversation with other employees, or getting the next email in their inbox with bad news.”

The IRS is also expected to announce the first wave of layoffs as part of an agencywide “reduction in force” by the end of this week, CNN reported on Monday. The depth of these involuntary terminations, called RIFs, could be tapered by the high level of resignations.

“I’m riding the wave and taking my chances with the RIF,” one IRS employee in New York said, referring to looming layoff announcements. “I will not accept a resignation.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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