Tax time troubles: Lincoln accountant says IRS layoffs will cause delays

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A recent AP article says the Internal Revenue Service will lay off thousands of probationary workers this tax season.

It is unclear exactly how many IRS workers will be affected.

This is coming from President Donald Trump’s efforts to downsize the federal workforce.

Denise Welch, an accountant at Welch’s Tax Service in Lincoln, said this will be very stressful for taxpayers.

“It will delay refunds. It will delay processing times,” she said. “If you try to call the IRS, it will delay that, too, because they’re going to have less agents to answer the phone. With those delays, there’s going to be people that aren’t happy at all.”

She told Channel 8 that this puts extra pressure on smaller tax service businesses.

“Small businesses won’t be able to call up and ask what’s deductible, or if it’s reasonable that I take this deduction,” she said. “You’ll see less people getting audited, less people getting letters. It will put more tax onto us because we’ll be answering phone calls that the IRS should be.”

Tax season will not be affected by the Trump administration’s buyout offers.

IRS employees aren’t allowed to accept the offer until after April 15.

Welch said if you have not filed your taxes, you need to do so as soon as possible so you can get your tax returns sooner.

“You should file early,” she said. “I feel like there might be some retaliation from the IRS, saying, ‘Alright let’s just slow everything up.'”