Tax season has always been a busy time of year, but this year, it’s even more stressful for many taxpayers.
Why?
The IRS, which processes returns and issues refunds, has just laid off hundreds of employees in Philadelphia.
The layoffs, which occur at a time when people are actively filing their taxes, could significantly affect how quickly refunds are processed and how efficiently the IRS can assist taxpayers.
To break it down, around 400 probationary employees at the IRS’s Philadelphia branch were recently fired.
These workers were part of the agency’s seasonal staff, and they made up about 10% of the IRS’s workforce for the 2025 tax season.
Originally, it was estimated that between 250 and 300 workers would be laid off, but the number quickly rose to 400, which has certainly caught many people off guard.
The layoffs result from President Trump’s goal to reduce the size of the federal government and cut unnecessary jobs.
However, the timing is particularly challenging because tax season is already underway, and millions of Americans must have their tax returns processed.
This sudden move has raised a lot of concerns.
Pennsylvania Congressman Brendan Boyle has called the layoffs a “blow” to local families and businesses.
He’s especially worried about how these job cuts will affect customer service.
If you’ve ever tried to get help from the IRS, you know that wait times can already be long, and now that a significant portion of the staff has been let go, it’s likely this year will take even longer.
The loss of so many employees, especially during such a critical time, is leaving many people nervous about how quickly they’ll get their tax refunds.
The IRS typically expects to process around 140 million tax returns by April 15, the filing deadline.
And while electronic filings tend to speed things up, having fewer workers to process all those returns means delays are a real possibility.
For example, normally, the IRS processes electronic returns within 21 days, but that timeline could easily stretch out if there aren’t enough employees to keep up.
For those who file paper returns, the wait can be even longer—up to 12 weeks, according to some estimates.
What’s especially concerning is that some of the newest hires were laid off.
Many of them had only been on the job for a few months and had not even received performance reviews yet.
Some workers, like Rob McCabe, who had been with the IRS for just a few months, expressed disbelief at being fired so suddenly.
He had supported the idea of reducing the federal workforce but never imagined that he would be caught in the crossfire of these budget cuts.
McCabe described the whole situation as chaotic and said it felt like workers were being let go without proper consideration.
Another employee, Nicholas Berardi, who had been working at the IRS for three months, also found the decision unfair.
He hadn’t received any formal feedback about his performance, yet he was told his work wasn’t up to standard.
Many others in his position felt the same way—they were blindsided and left without a clear explanation.
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents IRS workers, has also criticized the mass layoffs, saying that many of the workers who were let go had been performing well or hadn’t even been evaluated yet.
According to NTEU Chapter 71’s executive vice president, Alex Jay Berman, the layoffs are difficult to justify when many employees have not even been given a chance to prove their worth.
He mentioned one particularly heartbreaking example of a worker who was let go while pregnant, despite her excellent reviews, as a case of how poorly these layoffs were handled.
The layoffs, they argue, are arbitrary and not based on performance.
The impact of these layoffs isn’t only felt by the employees who lost their jobs. It also affects the agency’s ability to process returns efficiently.
According to experts like Vanessa Williamson from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, these cuts could disproportionately harm enforcement efforts aimed at wealthy tax evaders.
If the IRS is understaffed, it cannot pursue individuals or corporations who attempt to bypass their tax obligations, undermining the agency’s ability to collect revenue.
For taxpayers, refunds, especially those filed by paper, could take significantly longer than in past years.
As mentioned earlier, filing electronically is still the fastest way to get your return processed.
If you choose direct deposit, you could get your refund in as little as two to three weeks.
However, the processing time could be longer than usual with so many employees laid off and the IRS already under pressure.
For paper returns, the wait could be up to 12 weeks, especially in states like New Jersey and Delaware, where processing times can be longer.
If you’re anxious about the status of your refund, the IRS has a tool called “Where’s My Refund?” that you can use to track it, which requires entering the Social Security number and the expected refund amount.
If you file electronically, you can check your refund status within 24 hours.
And if you filed a paper return, the system may take a few weeks to update.
This tool will show you when the IRS has received your return, approved it, and sent the refund.
