Feeling taxed by layoffs, IRS turns to AI helpers

Tax season 2026 could be an interesting one as the IRS seeks to replace the staff it sent to the unemployment line with AI. Bots could handle tasks ranging from reviewing an org's request for tax-exempt status to processing amended individual filings.

The Treasury Department, the IRS' parent agency, published its latest AI use case inventory this week, which includes 129 items, 61 of which are specific to the IRS. That's a considerable increase from 2024, when the whole of the Treasury said it was working on just 54 AI use cases, 49 of which were IRS specific. 

It's been known that the Treasury Department had been slashing IRS staff since Trump took office about a year ago and had plans to replace eliminated staff with AI - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent even said as much in May when asked by Congress, suggesting that the "AI boom" could ...