WASHINGTON (AP) — In a surprising turn for the 2026 tax season, the IRS managed to issue refunds more efficiently than anticipated despite facing significant staff reductions. However, the national taxpayer advocate highlighted that individuals needing direct assistance were often left without support.
“Many taxpayers who required personal assistance found it difficult to get the help they needed,” stated Erin M. Collins, the leader of the IRS’s independent oversight agency.
Earlier this year, Collins cautioned that the 2026 tax season could present substantial challenges for those experiencing filing difficulties, mainly due to the significant decrease in the IRS workforce since the Trump administration’s onset.
The IRS commenced 2025 with a workforce of approximately 102,000 but saw a reduction to about 74,000 employees by year’s end. This decrease in staff was the result of a series of terminations and layoffs executed by the Department of Government Efficiency, helmed by trillionaire Elon Musk. In the previous year, those employees involved in processing the 2025 tax returns were barred from accepting buyout offers from the Trump administration until after the tax filing deadline. Consequently, many of those key customer service representatives have since departed.
In her latest mid-year report, Collins noted that overall, the IRS exceeded her expectations. “Most taxpayers managed to file their returns without major issues and received their refunds in a timely manner,” she reported.
Technology improvements and automation helped prevent a total meltdown during the tax season, according to the report, released Wednesday.
However, the agency fell short in answering phones, the report said. Some 59% of calls on major accounts management lines were answered, but taxpayers on compliance lines got through only 34% of the time, and the line that handles identity theft victims got through only 19% of the time.
Identity theft victims overall have to wait nearly two years for help from the IRS, the report said. This is a longstanding issue at the agency.
The taxpayer advocate report says more than 500,000 identity-theft victims continue to face average case resolution times of roughly 20 months, with average processing times approaching 600 days.