During his inauguration speech, President Donald Trump said: "Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens."
Trump said in a Truth Social post that he would create the External Revenue Service "to collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources."
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News that Trump's goal is "to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all the outsiders pay," meaning funding government spending via tariffs rather than income taxes.
On Feb. 26, The Washington Post reported that the General Services Administration (GSA) plans to close more than 110 IRS offices nationwide.
"At least 113 taxpayer assistance centers will have their leases terminated or not renewed when they expire, according to a list included with GSA’s letter. It’s unclear whether the assistance centers — which provide free, in-person help for tax filers, on an appointment basis — will relocate or simply close," the report said.
RedState's Bob Hoge noted: "Nobody is sad except DC bureaucrats and Biden sycophants."
"Notice how the Washington Post stresses the fact that some of these offices have 'taxpayer assistance centers,' implying that oh-so-many people will be hurt by this move. But why do we need taxpayer assistance centers? Why are our taxes so freaking complicated that people with graduate degrees have to fork over thousands of dollars to their CPAs because the tax code is so convoluted that only a full-time tax nerd can figure them out?"
Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy summed it up thusly:
The people screaming so loudly about Pres. Trump auditing federal spending are the SAME people who wanted to hire 80,000+ new IRS agents to audit the American people under Pres. Biden. If it weren't for double standards, there wouldn't be any standards at all in this town. pic.twitter.com/pH9XLTBVEg
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) February 25, 2025
IRS national offices that have been closed thus far, along with the cost of the annual lease on the buildings, include:
• Lowell, Massachusetts: Annual cost: $1,189,592, assuming a five-year continuation of the lease
• Salem, Oregon: Annual cost: $262,927
• Bend, Oregon: Annual cost: $192,066
• Beaumont, Texas: Annual cost: $115,076
• Sioux City, Iowa: Annual cost: $104,186
• Hilo, Hawaii: Annual cost: $70,396
• Knoxville, Tennessee: Annual cost : $69,357
• Idaho Falls, Idaho: Annual cost: $52,743
• Brattleboro, Vermont: Annual cost: $41,238
Blockchain.News noted that news of the IRS closures "sent ripples through the cryptocurrency market, with traders reacting to the potential implications for financial systems and taxation policies."
Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a sharp increase, rising from $54,320 at 10:00 AM EST to $56,890 by 10:15 AM EST, a 4.73% surge within 15 minutes (Coinbase, Feb 27, 2025).
Ethereum (ETH) followed suit, jumping from $3,200 to $3,350 over the same period, a 4.69% increase (Binance, Feb 27, 2025).
The trading volume for BTC on Coinbase spiked from an average of 10,000 BTC per hour to 25,000 BTC per hour (Coinbase, Feb 27, 2025). For ETH, the volume on Binance increased from 50,000 ETH to 120,000 ETH per hour (Binance, Feb 27, 2025).
"This immediate reaction suggests a high level of market sensitivity to changes in fiscal policy and taxation, particularly in the context of cryptocurrencies which are often viewed as alternatives to traditional financial systems," the Blockchain.News report said.
Last week, an IRS official reportedly told staffers that about 6,000 probationary employees would be fired, a move that would eliminate roughly 6% of the agency's workforce. The workers are those who have been employed for one year or less and have not been able to secure full civil service protection.
A source told Reuters that the employees on the chopping block include those holding positions that ranged from revenue agents, to specialized auditors, to IT specialists across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
The Associated Press cited a source as saying the job cuts will largely impact the employees in the compliance department, which oversees whether taxpayers are filing their returns, paying their taxes, and meeting other tax obligations in full and on time by the April 15 due date.
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