Internal Revenue Service

The United States' federal tax agency — a Treasury bureau that collected $5.1 trillion in FY2024 — founded in 1862 to finance the Civil War, and now operating through a leadership vacuum and a 28% workforce cut.

Researched by Muhammad Abdullah Al Yasin · 24 October 2026

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Location: Washington, D.C.
Country: United States
Founded: July 1, 1862, as the Office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue, known as the Bureau of Internal Revenue; formally renamed the Internal Revenue Service in a 1953 Treasury reorganization
Parent agency: A bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, organized to carry out the Treasury Secretary's responsibilities under Internal Revenue Code Section 7801
Mission statement: Provide America's taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and to enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all
FY2024 gross collections: $5.1 trillion — about 96% of all U.S. federal government funding (IRS Data Book)
Workforce: About 103,000 employees in January 2025; cut to about 77,000 by May 2025 and down roughly 28% by year-end, per TIGTA and Brookings analyses
Leadership: No Senate-confirmed commissioner since August 8, 2025; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent serving as acting commissioner, with Frank Bisignano in a newly created "chief executive officer" role disputed by Senate Democrats

Overview

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the tax agency of the United States — a bureau of the Department of the Treasury that collected $5.1 trillion in fiscal year 2024, about 96% of federal revenue (IRS). Founded in 1862 to finance the Civil War and renamed the IRS in 1953 (National Archives), it processes more than 266 million returns but entered 2026 without a Senate-confirmed commissioner after losing about 28% of its workforce in 2025 (Brookings; Senate Finance).

Organized under Internal Revenue Code Section 7801 to carry out the Treasury Secretary’s responsibilities (IRS.gov), its stated mission is to “Provide America’s taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and to enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all” (IRS.gov). Its work spans processing returns, collecting unpaid taxes, auditing filers, and pursuing criminal tax investigations.

From Civil War bureau to a $5.1 trillion collector

Congress created the Office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue on July 1, 1862, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue began collecting taxes to finance the Civil War (IRS.gov). The 1862 law imposed the nation’s first progressive income tax — 3% on income over $600 and 5% on income over $10,000 — collected through district assessors in every state and territory not in rebellion (National Archives). The Civil War income tax expired in 1872; the Supreme Court struck down a later income tax as unconstitutional in 1895; and the 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913, restored its constitutional basis (National Archives). The 1913 act imposed a 1% levy on incomes over $3,000 ($4,000 for couples), touching less than 1% of the population (National Archives). The bureau was renamed the Internal Revenue Service in a 1953 Treasury reorganization; the 1998 IRS Restructuring and Reform Act set five-year terms for Senate-confirmed commissioners (National Archives; IRS.gov). In fiscal year 2024 the IRS collected $5.1 trillion, processed more than 266 million returns and other forms, and closed 505,514 audits producing $29 billion in recommended additional tax (IRS).

The 2025–2026 upheaval

A 28% smaller workforce

The agency shrank from about 103,000 employees in January 2025 to about 77,000 by May, per the Treasury Inspector General (AP). Brookings put the full-year cut at 31,000 employees (about 28%): 20,000+ left through deferred-resignation programs and thousands of probationary employees were terminated (Brookings). The Taxpayer Services Division had lost about 11,000 staff (26%) by January 2026, overtime hours rose 12% in the first nine months of 2025, average paper-return processing climbed from 27 to 36 days, and phone “Level of Service” fell from 70% to 56% while average wait times rose from 8 to 14 minutes (Brookings). To fill gaps, the agency involuntarily reassigned roughly 1,200 IT and HR employees to return processing — many had no prior taxpayer-services experience, and hundreds failed their initial certification exams (Brookings).

Seven leaders in one year

Seven commissioner or acting-commissioner transitions occurred in 2025 alone: Danny Werfel departed in January, followed by acting stints from Douglas O’Donnell, Melanie Krause, Gary Shapley, and Michael Faulkender (Senate Finance; IRS.gov). Krause resigned over an IRS–DHS deal to share immigrants’ tax data with ICE, and Shapley’s appointment triggered a fight between Elon Musk and Bessent (AP). Billy Long — a former Missouri congressman and auctioneer confirmed 53–44 — served June 17 to August 8, becoming the shortest-tenured Senate-confirmed commissioner since 1862 (AP). Bessent has served as acting commissioner since, while the administration created a new “chief executive officer” role for Frank Bisignano — three Senate Democrats call it an unauthorized “fake job” (Senate Finance). They argue Bessent’s acting authority expired March 6, 2026, under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, with no nominee submitted (Senate Finance).

The end of Direct File

Direct File — the IRS’s free online filing service — was piloted in 2024 with Inflation Reduction Act funding, made permanent under the Biden administration, and expanded for the 2025 season (AP). It drew 296,531 accepted returns in 2025, up from 140,803 in 2024, before the Trump administration put the program in limbo amid its federal-government cuts (AP). The Associated Press reported in April 2025 that the administration planned to eliminate it after IRS staff assigned to Direct File were told to stop development work (AP). In November 2025, IRS product manager Cynthia Noe emailed state comptrollers that “IRS Direct File will not be available in Filing Season 2026. No launch date has been set for the future” (AP). Bessent told reporters that “better alternatives” exist and “the private sector can do a better job” (AP).

What happens to a tax-exempt complaint after it’s filed

Anyone — an employee, a donor, a member of the public, even a competitor — can file a referral against a tax-exempt organization using IRS Form 13909, the Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) form (FedLaws). It goes to the IRS’s EO Classification office in Dallas — by mail to 1100 Commerce Street, by fax to 214-413-5415, or by email to eoclass@irs.gov — and may be filed anonymously (FedLaws). Named filers receive an acknowledgment letter, but that is the last they will hear: Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code bars the IRS from disclosing whether it examined the referral or what it found (UncleFed). An experienced EO revenue agent reviews each referral under a “reasonable belief” standard; referrals that meet it can go to a committee of career EO managers and agents that decides monthly whether to open an examination (UncleFed). The IRS’s own complaints page confirms this Dallas route, handled by its Tax-Exempt/Government Entities Division (IRS.gov). That confidentiality rule is why, when Accountable.US filed such a complaint on June 13, 2024, against the Epoch Public Foundation and The Epoch Times Association to trigger a civil investigation of their 2021 and 2022 returns, no public record of the IRS’s response exists (NPR).

IRS: 1862 vs. today

Dimension	1862: Bureau of Internal Revenue	2024–26: Internal Revenue Service
Official name	Office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue, known as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (IRS.gov)	Internal Revenue Service, formally renamed in 1953 (National Archives)
First head	George S. Boutwell, commissioner from July 1862 to March 1863 (IRS.gov)	Commissioner vacant since August 8, 2025; Scott Bessent acting (Senate Finance)
Why created	Collect taxes to finance the Civil War (IRS.gov)	Collect federal taxes and enforce the tax law, with a stated emphasis on taxpayer service (IRS.gov)
Tax scope	Excise taxes, license fees, and the nation’s first progressive income tax: 3% on income over $600, 5% over $10,000 (National Archives)	All federal tax types; permanent income tax since 1913; 266M+ returns and other forms processed in FY2024 (National Archives; IRS)
Annual collections	Not established in the sources read	$5.1 trillion in FY2024 — about 96% of federal funding (IRS)
Workforce model	Collection districts with local assessors and collectors (National Archives)	About 103,000 employees in January 2025, cut roughly 28% by year-end 2025 (Brookings)

Frequently asked questions

When and why was the IRS founded? Congress created the Office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue on July 1, 1862, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue to collect taxes financing the Civil War, including the first progressive income tax (IRS.gov). The income tax was abolished after ten years, reinstated in 1913, and the agency was renamed in 1953 (National Archives).

Who leads the IRS right now? No one Senate-confirmed: Billy Long was removed on August 8, 2025, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has served as acting commissioner since (AP). Senate Democrats say Bessent’s acting authority expired March 6, 2026, under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, and call the newly created “CEO” role for Frank Bisignano a “fake job” (Senate Finance).

How much money does the IRS collect? In fiscal year 2024 the IRS collected $5.1 trillion in gross taxes, accounting for about 96% of all federal government funding (IRS). It processed more than 266 million returns and other forms and issued close to $553 billion in refunds that year (IRS).

How do I report a nonprofit’s suspected tax violations to the IRS? File IRS Form 13909, the Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) form, with the IRS EO Classification office in Dallas — by mail, fax (214-413-5415), or email (eoclass@irs.gov); anonymous filings are accepted (FedLaws). Named filers get an acknowledgment letter, but confidentiality law bars the IRS from telling you the outcome (UncleFed).

What this profile does not claim

It does not state whether the IRS acted on Accountable.US’s June 13, 2024 complaint: no public record exists, and Section 6103 bars the IRS from confirming or denying an examination.
It does not attribute Billy Long’s removal to any single cause; news accounts have offered competing, unconfirmed explanations, and no official reason was given.
It treats the Senate Finance claim that Bessent’s acting authority expired March 6, 2026, as the senators’ legal reading, not an adjudicated ruling.
Workforce and performance figures are attributed to their sources and dates; staffing and operations continued to shift after each report was published.
This profile covers the IRS as an institution, not the tax code itself; it is not tax advice.

Timeline

1862: Congress creates the Office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue on July 1; the Bureau of Internal Revenue begins collecting taxes — including the nation's first progressive income tax — to finance the Civil War.
1872: The Civil War income tax expires after a decade; the bureau survives on excise taxes and other remaining revenue sources.
1913: The 16th Amendment is ratified, restoring the constitutional basis for a federal income tax, which Congress reinstates the same year.
1953: The Treasury Department reorganizes the bureau and renames it the Internal Revenue Service.
1998: The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act sets five-year terms for Senate-confirmed commissioners.
2022: The Inflation Reduction Act provides nearly $80 billion in supplemental IRS funding through FY 2031; the CBO estimates over $203 billion in additional revenue from enhanced enforcement.
2024: The IRS pilots the free Direct File program; on June 13, Accountable.US files an IRS complaint against the Epoch Public Foundation and The Epoch Times Association, seeking a civil investigation of their 2021-2022 Forms 990.
2025: The agency loses about 28% of its workforce in DOGE-driven cuts, cycles through seven leaders, Billy Long is removed as commissioner on August 8 and Scott Bessent becomes acting commissioner, and Direct File is discontinued.
2026: Senate Democrats warn that Bessent's acting-commissioner authority expired on March 6 under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, with no nominee submitted.

What we could not verify

These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.

Whether the IRS acted on Accountable.US's June 13, 2024 complaint is not publicly reported, and Internal Revenue Code Section 6103 bars the IRS from confirming or denying an examination, so this profile does not assert an outcome.
The Senate Finance Committee's position that Scott Bessent's acting authority expired on March 6, 2026, under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act is the senators' legal reading; Treasury's contrary position is not established in the sources read.
News accounts have offered competing, unconfirmed explanations for Billy Long's removal; this profile states only that he was removed on August 8, 2025.

Sources

12 sources (6 tier 1, 2 tier 3, 4 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.

This profile draws on a mix of first-party government records (IRS.gov's official commissioner history and About page, the IRS's own Data Book news release, and its complaints-process page), tier-1 independent coverage (the National Archives, two Associated Press reports, the Senate Finance Committee, and Brookings' analysis of oversight-body data), and tier-3 specialist guides corroborating the tax-exempt complaint workflow described in the IRS's own release. No Wikipedia citation was used; every factual sentence is tied inline to a source the researcher personally read in full.

Internal Revenue Service Tier 1
National Archives and Records Administration, 2026 Supports: The 1862 Internal Revenue Act and its rates (3% on income over $600, 5% over $10,000; 1864 revision to 5% over $600 and 10% over $5,000); collection districts; expiration of the Civil War income tax in 1872; the 1895 Supreme Court ruling; the 1913 16th Amendment and 1% tax over $3,000 ($4,000 for couples) reaching under 1% of the population; the 1953 rename to the Internal Revenue Service. Open original source
Trump Removes IRS Chief Billy Long After Two Months Tier 1
Associated Press (via JC Post), 2025-08-08 Supports: Long's removal on August 8, 2025 less than two months after a 53-44 confirmation; Bessent as acting commissioner; Long's nomination as ambassador to Iceland; the shortest-tenured Senate-confirmed commissioner since 1862; workforce falling from ~103,000 in January to ~77,000 in May 2025 (TIGTA); Krause's resignation over the IRS-DHS agreement to share immigrants' tax data with ICE; the Musk-Bessent fight over Shapley's appointment. Open original source
The Trump administration's IRS cuts undermined filing season performance Tier 1
Brookings Institution, 2026-07-28 Supports: The 31,000-employee (28%) workforce cut in 2025; 20,000+ deferred resignations; the Taxpayer Services Division losing ~11,000 (26%) by January 2026; overtime up 12% in the first nine months of 2025; GAO paper-return processing rising from 27 to 36 days; phone Level of Service falling from 70% to 56% with wait times rising from 8 to 14 minutes; ~1,200 IT and HR employees involuntarily reassigned to return processing, many failing initial certification; the discontinuation of Direct File. Open original source
Wyden, Schumer, Warren Warn that Bessent's Term as Acting IRS Commissioner Has Expired Tier 1
U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, 2026-03-10 Supports: Seven commissioner/acting-commissioner transitions in 2025; no confirmed commissioner since Long's removal on August 8, 2025; Bessent serving as acting commissioner while Frank Bisignano holds a disputed "chief executive officer" role; the senators' position that Bessent's Federal Vacancies Reform Act authority expired March 6, 2026; TIGTA warnings on staffing losses; the National Taxpayer Advocate's 602-day average to resolve identity-theft cases through April 30, 2025. Open original source
IRS Direct File won't be available next year. Here's what that means for taxpayers Tier 1
Associated Press (by Fatima Hussein, via The Baltimore Banner), 2025-11-08 Supports: The November 2025 announcement that Direct File would not return for the 2026 filing season, via IRS product manager Cynthia Noe's email to state comptrollers; 296,531 accepted returns in 2025 vs 140,803 in 2024; the 2024 pilot funded through the Inflation Reduction Act and made permanent under Biden; Bessent's "better alternatives" and private-sector remarks; Republican and tax-prep-industry opposition. Open original source
Money laundering charges raise questions about the direction of The Epoch Times Tier 1
NPR (via KSUT), 2024-06-15 Supports: Accountable.US — described as "a progressive nonprofit watchdog organization that monitors financial flows of right-wing organizations" — filed an IRS complaint on June 13, 2024 (a Thursday) against the Epoch Public Foundation and The Epoch Times Association, hoping to trigger a civil investigation of their 2021 and 2022 returns; executive director Tony Carrk said his team had begun examining the filings before the CFO's money-laundering charges became public. Open original source
How to Report a Nonprofit: Form 13909, Evidence, and State Filings Tier 3
FedLaws, 2026 Supports: Form 13909 (Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint/Referral) as the standard vehicle; submission by mail (IRS EO Classification, Mail Code 4910DAL, 1100 Commerce St., Dallas, TX 75242-1198), fax (214-413-5415), or email (eoclass@irs.gov); anonymous filing allowed; acknowledgment letters for named filers. Open original source
IRS Complaint Process For Tax Exempt Organizations Tier 3
UncleFed (mirroring an IRS release) Supports: The EO Classification review flow: an experienced EO revenue agent evaluates referrals under a "reasonable belief" standard, and referrals meeting it can go to a committee of career EO managers and agents that decides monthly whether to open an examination; Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code bars the IRS from disclosing whether it examined a referral or the results. Open original source
Previous IRS commissioners First-party
Internal Revenue Service Supports: The July 1, 1862 creation of the Office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue; the Bureau of Internal Revenue collecting taxes to finance the Civil War; the income tax abolished after 10 years and reinstated in 1913; five-year commissioner terms since the 1998 Restructuring Act; the full 2023-2025 commissioner chronology (Werfel, O'Donnell, Krause, Shapley, Faulkender, Long, Bessent); first commissioner George S. Boutwell. Open original source
About IRS First-party
Internal Revenue Service Supports: The IRS mission statement verbatim; the agency's organization under Internal Revenue Code Section 7801 to carry out the Treasury Secretary's responsibilities. Open original source
IR-2025-63: IRS releases fiscal year 2024 Data Book describing agency's activities First-party
Internal Revenue Service, 2025 Supports: FY2024 gross collections of $5.1 trillion (first year above $5T, ~96% of federal funding); more than 266 million returns and other forms processed; close to $553 billion in refunds; 505,514 audits closed with $29 billion in recommended additional tax. Open original source
Public disclosure and availability of exempt organizations returns: Complaints about noncompliance First-party
Internal Revenue Service Supports: Complaints about exempt organizations are directed to IRS EO Classification in Dallas (1100 Commerce Street, Mail Code 4910), handled by the Tax-Exempt/Government Entities Division; the IRS points complainants to IRS.gov/submitatip. Open original source

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