IRS CEO Frank Bisignano will confront Senate tax-writers for the first time as leader of the agency hours before the deadline for Americans to file their taxes—facing questions over customer service amid a diminished workforce and implementation of the 2025 tax law.
Bisignano, also the commissioner of the Social Security Administration, will meet lawmakers before the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday. Republicans are looking for big refund results after the 2025 tax-and-spending law and Democrats want answers on how the agency is operating with a shrunken workforce.
Here’s what we know about how it’s going so far.
How a Smaller IRS Is Coping
The administration has portrayed tax season as a success with no major glitches despite the agency functioning with tens of thousands of fewer employees after the Trump administration deputized Elon Musk to pressure tens of thousands of workers to leave the government.
But it may be too early to tell.
“The jury is still out,” said Tina Collins, a member on the executive committee for the board of directors at the National Association of Enrolled Agents, speaking about filing season. She added that summer is when cracks may start to show with processing and handling of returns.
The IRS was on uneven footing at its most critical time of the year after a Trump administration-mandated hiring freeze, the longest government shutdown is US history and its workforce shrinking from roughly 100,000 to 75,000, due to buyout offers and other pressure.
Typically, the IRS hires temporary customer service workers by the end of August and has them fully trained by Jan.1. This season, the IRS fell more than 1,000 people short of its 3,500-person hiring goal, continued hiring until December, and reduced the new hire training, according the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
“This year we are finding that the folks that are answering the phones are just not as well-versed,” Collins said.
The IRS required some IT and HR employees help process tax returns amid the shortage, but they’re still being trained.
The IRS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
‘Wild West’ of Tax Breaks
Workers who made tips or overtime generally have two reactions when they hear about the new breaks: surprised the breaks exist or disappointed by the size of the deduction.
“We are hearing a bit more confusion about some of these new deductions and are just seeing some frustration from folks,” said Courtney O’Reilly, associate program director for tax benefits at Code for America, a civic tech nonprofit that offers free filing services.
The number of filers for both breaks from the 2025 tax-and-spending law is surging past initial administration expectations. Over 4.6 million taxpayers have claimed the tips deduction and nearly 20 million have benefited from the overtime break, according to the Treasury Department.
Republicans are counting on the bigger refunds to drive voters to the polls in the midterms but only a small percentage of households are expected to benefit from the breaks, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
It’s raised concerns from tax experts about overstated claims and both accidental and intentional abuse.
Bisignano said earlier this month the IRS will be diligent looking for fraud in this area.
The agency has issued a handful of guidance projects to implement the flagship benefits from the law. Companies impacted got a short time frame to implement, though the IRS gave some relief.
It’s up to employers to decide what they want to report to their workers—and it varies widely.
“In its first year, it’s a little bit of the Wild West especially with the overtime deduction,” O’Reilly said.
Free Filing
After Republicans succeeded in abolishing the IRS-run free filing tool, Direct File, the agency turned its attention to its older counterpart, Free File.
Private tax prep companies lobbied hard to push for the end of Direct File and now may be reaping new customers.
Use of Free File, where the IRS and a group of tax preparation companies help taxpayers file without paying a fee, is up 4% from last year—a slight boost though still a relatively small uptake compared to those taxpayers who qualify.
“Free File is the gem that not enough people know about,” said Tim Hugo, executive director for the Free File Alliance, which includes FreeTaxUSA, OnLine Taxes, ezTaxReturn.com, TaxSlayer, 1040Now, 1040.com, FileYourTaxes.com, and TaxAct.
About 2.7 million taxpayers used Free File in 2025, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate report. Last year, Hugo was critical of how little the IRS was advertising the option, saying Free File was benefiting from the advertising blitz for Direct File when taxpayers figured out they didn’t qualify then turned to Free File.
Hugo said the IRS has been more aggressive advertising Free File in 2026. The IRS also reached out to users of Direct File to let them know Free File was an option.
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