IRS Furloughs Employees, Closes Most Operations
In a notice to employees posted on its website, the IRS announced it began an agency-wide furlough on Oct. 8, 2025, and that most of its operations have closed due to the federal government shutdown.
The IRS updated its contingency plan on the evening of Oct. 8, sharing that from Oct. 8 through April 30, 2026, 53.6% of the IRS’ total employee population are considered exempt and would continue working during the shutdown. The updated plan “identifies those activities that will continue during a lapse of annual appropriations in order to prepare for the Tax Year 2026 filing season, to continue modernization efforts, and to ensure timely implementation of P.L. 119-21.”
The plan noted that Taxpayer Services will keep 24,470 staff. Among those staff are approximately 3,500 new customer service representatives, who began onboarding Sept. 22 and will be in training to prepare for tax season up to Feb. 16.
In the notice the IRS had posted on its website, employees were instructed to report to work for their next normally scheduled workday, where they would be given up to four hours to close out work requirements and receive formal furlough notification. Among the operations closing are non-automated collections, the processing of non-disaster relief transcripts, and taxpayer services such as responding to taxpayer questions during non-filing season.
Under its original contingency plan, the IRS used funds from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, P.L. 117-169, to remain staffed for the first five days of the government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1.
The AICPA continues to advocate for the IRS to except 100% of its employees for the duration of the shutdown and will be hosting a Town Hall on Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. Eastern addressing the shutdown as well as other important issues. In addition, the AICPA has created a landing page featuring the latest updates and resources on navigating the government shutdown.