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As tax season opens and the IRS prepares for millions of returns, the agency’s internal watchdog warns that certain taxpayers could have problems in 2026.
While the 2025 filing season was generally a “smooth experience,” the current year could present “greater challenges” for some filers, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins said Wednesday in her annual report to Congress.
With the largest staff in many years and no major tax law changes, the IRS processed more than 165 million individual returns in 2025, and most filers received timely refunds, she said.
But “entering 2026, the landscape is markedly different” amid the agency’s 27% workforce reduction, leadership turnover, and implementation of “extensive and complex” tax law changes enacted by President Donald Trump, Collins wrote.
The 2026 filing season should be “seamless” for taxpayers who file an electronic, error-free return with direct deposit for refunds, Collins wrote. But “the success of the filing season will be defined by how well the IRS is able to assist the millions of taxpayers who experience problems.”
A report released this week from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, or TIGTA, an independent federal agency, and letter from Senate Democrats sent Monday also voiced concerns about the IRS’ readiness for the upcoming tax season.
“The Internal Revenue Service is ready to help taxpayers meet their tax filing and payment obligations during the 2026 filing season,” IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano said in a statement in early January.
In 2026, many filers could see bigger tax refunds due to the 2025 cuts enacted via Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” The IRS didn’t update tax withholding tables after the midyear change, and many filers could see the effect when filing 2025 returns, experts say.
Tax refunds have become a focus for the Trump administration as many Americans wrestle with rising costs of groceries, utilities, clothing and other expenses. Affordability is a key issue for both parties in 2026 with the midterm elections approaching.
Possible filing season issues
Typically, the IRS receives more than 100 million phone calls and several million pieces of taxpayer correspondence every year, and the number of customer service representatives shrank by 22% in 2025, according to the national taxpayer advocate report.
“Although the IRS backfilled some of these positions late in the year, the number of [customer service representatives] remains substantially lower than last filing season, and the new hires have less experience than the employees who departed,” the report said.
Amid staffing cuts, “taxpayers may have to increasingly rely on IRS self-service tools,” such as IRS online accounts, a separate TIGTA report from October said.