Almost 1,400 IRS employees receive layoff notices, adding to staff losses

The IRS sent layoff notices to almost 1,400 employees, adding to the losses at the agency where 25% of staff had left as of May, according to a court document filed earlier this week in a lawsuit brought by unions against the federal government.

In a previous document filed by Treasury in the lawsuit being heard in the Northern District of California, officials said 1,446 Treasury employees would be laid off. The IRS provided specifics of those layoffs on Tuesday, saying 1,399 of those 1,446 work at the IRS.

According to this week’s court document, reduction-in-force notices were sent to:

• 527 staffers in exam and collections, which consists of programs that enforce tax laws and increase compliance through examination and collection programs. It also includes support of the Questionable Refund Program and appeals, and litigation activities associated with examination and collection. Some 29,380 people work in this group.

• 489 staffers in information services, which manages, maintains, and operates the information systems supporting IRS business operations and tax administration programs. This includes operations of IT security controls and disaster recovery planning, maintenance of software, as well as the operations, maintenance, and replacement of mainframes, servers, personal computers, and networks. Some 7,211 people work in this group.

• 297 staffers in shared services and support, which consists of policy management, administration, IRS-wide research support; strategic planning; communications and liaison; protection of sensitive information and the privacy of privacy of taxpayers and employees; finance, human resources, printing and postage; business systems planning; and procurement. Some 5,258 people are employed in this group.

• Smaller numbers of staffers in Treasury-wide management and programs and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.

The federal court in California previously issued an injunction limiting layoffs during the government shutdown. According to this week’s court document, the layoff notices weren’t sent to any employees covered by the injunction.

The layoffs are in addition to a workforce reduction of about 25% as of May through some sort of incentive program such as deferred resignation, according to a report released in July by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. That report said 25,386 employees had departed as of May through some sort of incentive program such as deferred resignation. Another 294 employees received RIF notices but had not been terminated because of a court injunction, as was the case for 3,023 probationary employees. These employees continued to work at the IRS unless they choose to separate or are terminated for other reasons, the report said.

Meanwhile, the IRS updated its lapsed appropriations contingency plan, which details how the agency handles operations during the government shutdown, which marked its 38th day Friday. While the revised plan does not outline what changed, the number of employees working during the shutdown increased by 112, to 39,982 from 39,870. Those recalled from furlough included 45 people brought back to the IRS Chief Counsel’s Office to “perform work necessary to implement P.L. 119-21,” the sweeping tax law that was enacted this year.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Martha Waggoner at Martha.Waggoner@aicpa-cima.com.