One other federal company is getting dragged into the GOP’s shutdown mess.
The Inside Income Service introduced Wednesday that it’s furloughing practically half its workforce as the federal government shutdown drags on. Work to arrange for subsequent 12 months’s tax season will proceed, however taxpayer companies like name facilities will grind to a halt. So will non-automated tax collections and, because the company put it, “most headquarters and administrative functions not related to the safety of life and protection of property,” in line with its newest contingency plan.
The dimensions is huge: about 34,400 workers will probably be furloughed, whereas roughly 39,870—simply over half the workforce—will keep on the job.
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Initially, the IRS prevented furloughs due to funding from the 2022 Inflation Discount Act. However that stopgap was solely meant to final the primary 5 enterprise days of the shutdown, which started Oct. 1. For ever and ever, the company has pulled the plug.
The ripple results will hit quick.
“Tax returns will be arriving,” Maria Ramos, the Nationwide Treasury Staff Union chapter president in Austin, Texas, informed CNN. “But there will be no one there to process them.”
A chronic shutdown may snarl operations additional because the Oct. 15 tax-filing extension deadline looms, creating complications for accountants, small companies, and atypical taxpayers alike.
The IRS is already juggling dozens of tax code adjustments contained within the GOP’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” together with some taking impact this 12 months. Now, with tens of 1000’s of workers sidelined, delays are inevitable.
The union that represents IRS staff didn’t mince phrases.
“Due to the government shutdown, the American people lost access to many vital services provided by the IRS when the agency furloughed thousands of employees,” it stated in an announcement. “Expect increased wait times, backlogs, and delays implementing tax law changes as the shutdown continues. Taxpayers around the country will now have a much harder time getting the assistance they need, just as they get ready to file their extension returns due next week.”
And contained in the company, frustration is rising. Staff informed CNN that even some roles thought of important in previous shutdowns—like these chargeable for opening and scanning mailed returns and funds—have been furloughed this time. That call may go away stacks of paper returns sitting untouched for weeks, compounding already important backlogs from earlier this 12 months.
By Wednesday, the company made it official.
“An IRS-wide furlough began on October 8, 2025, for everyone except already-identified excepted and exempt employees,” in line with an announcement on its web site. “Employee[s] who are not exempt or excepted are furloughed and placed in a non-pay and non-duty status until further notice.”
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There was a minimum of one level of readability for furloughed staff. In its furlough discover, the IRS reminded workers they’re legally assured again pay as soon as the shutdown ends—a direct nod to a regulation handed in 2019 after a White Home memo earlier this week raised considerations about whether or not again pay can be honored.
The choice comes because the company continues to be digging out from layoffs which have already gutted its workforce by roughly 25% since President Donald Trump returned to workplace in January. Taxpayers are more likely to really feel the ache instantly—longer maintain instances, dropped calls, and slower refunds as deadlines close to.
The shutdown’s attain is simply rising. Now, it’s the taxman’s flip.
