IRS faces stiff challenges in 2026 tax season due to workforce cuts and new laws, a watchdog says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The national taxpayer advocate is cautioning that the 2026 tax filing season is likely to present challenges for taxpayers who encounter problems with filing their taxes given the exodus of IRS workers since the start of the Trump administration.

National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins released her annual report to Congress on Wednesday, two days after the start of the 2026 season. She finds that while the IRS was able to process returns in 2025 without major disruptions, “entering 2026, the landscape is markedly different.”

“The IRS is simultaneously confronting a reduction of 27% of its workforce, leadership turnover, and the implementation of extensive and complex tax law changes” mandated by Republicans' tax and spending measure that President Donald Trump signed into law last summer, Collins said in her report.

Collins says most taxpayers should be able to file their returns and receive their refunds without delay, but she notes “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.”

The tax filing season began on Monday, and agency leaders, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and IRS CEO Frank Bisignano, have said they expect a smooth season.

Bisignano last week announced new priorities and a reorganization of IRS executive leadership in a letter addressed to the agency’s 74,000 employees, saying that he is “confident that with this new team in place, the IRS is well-prepared to deliver a successful tax filing season for the American public.”

Bessent as well as others in Trump's second administration have also promised American taxpayers “substantial tax refunds,” as part of the Republican administration's solution to an ongoing affordability crisis.

Still, other IRS watchdogs have outlined major concerns at the start of the 2026 tax season.

Diana M. Tengesdal, deputy inspector general for audit at the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, wrote a letter to IRS leadership on Monday and pointed to IRS staffing at October 2021 levels, combined with thousands of unprocessed tax returns and taxpayer correspondence.

The IRS started 2025 with about 102,000 employees and finished with about 74,000 after a series of firings and layoffs brought on by the Department of Government Efficiency. While last year IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were not allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until after the taxpayer filing deadline, this year many of those customer service workers have left.

Tengesdal's office says despite new efforts to modernize tax administration, “initiatives to offset staffing losses may not yield expected benefits during the 2026 Filing Season.”

Glen Frost, managing partner of Frost Law, which specializes in tax and litigation, said his firm is seeing “numerous instances where the deadline is running out on taxpayer refund claims.”

“Real people’s livelihoods are at stake with the continuing IRS delays,” he said.

More than 165 million individual income tax returns were processed in 2025, with 94% submitted electronically. The average refund was $3,167.

Follow the AP's coverage of the IRS at https://apnews.com/hub/internal-revenue-service.

FILE - The exterior of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington, is photographed March 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he has informed acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez that he’s going to be opening up all commercial airspace over Venezuela and Americans will soon be able to visit.

Trump said he instructed U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and U.S. military leaders to open up the airspace by the end of the day.

“American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they’ll be safe there,” the Republican president said.

Venezuela’s government did not immediately comment on Trump’s announcement.

Earlier this week, Trump's administration notified Congress that it was taking the first steps to possibly reopen the shuttered U.S. Embassy in Venezuela as it explores restoring relations with the South American country following the U.S. military raid that ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.

In a notice to lawmakers dated Monday and obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday, the State Department said it was sending in a regular and growing contingent of temporary staffers to conduct “select” diplomatic functions.

“We are writing to notify the committee of the Department of State’s intent to implement a phased approach to potentially resume Embassy Caracas operations,” the department said in separate but identical letters to 10 House and Senate committees.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries collapsed in 2019, and the U.S. State Department warned Americans shouldn’t travel to Venezuela, raising its travel advisory to the highest level.

The State Department on Thursday still listed a travel advisory for Venezuela at its highest level, “Do not travel,” warning that Americans face a high risk of wrongful detention, torture, kidnapping and more.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a message Thursday inquiring about whether it was changing its warning.

In November, as Trump was ramping up pressure on Maduro, he declared that the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered as “closed in its entirety."

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which has jurisdiction generally over the U.S. and its territories, then told pilots to be cautious flying around the country because of heightened military activity.

After that FAA warning, international airlines began canceling flights to Venezuela because of heightened military activity.

American Airlines, which was the last U.S. airline flying to Venezuela when it suspended flights there in March 2019, announced Thursday that it intends to reinstate nonstop service there from the U.S. in the coming months.

“We have a more than 30-year history connecting Venezolanos to the U.S., and we are ready to renew that incredible relationship,” Nat Pieper, American’s chief commercial officer, said in a statement. “By restarting service to Venezuela, American will offer customers the opportunity to reunite with families and create new business and commerce with the United States.”

American said it would share additional details about the return to service in the coming months as it works with federal authorities on security assessments and necessary permissions.

AP reporters Matthew Lee in Washington and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)