FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Media Contact
Janel Knight Trulear
janel@emccommunications.com
617-875-6581

STATEMENT: IRS budget cuts create chaos for small businesses during tax season 

Small businesses pay their taxes and get a broken IRS in return, says Small Business for America's Future Co-chair Anne Zimmerman

Feb. 5, 2026 – “Tax season is going to be a mess. The IRS has been gutted with nearly 20% of its workforce cut in key functions. They're so desperate for staff that they're pulling people from HR and IT departments to process returns and answer phones. These are employees with no tax experience being assigned to handle business tax returns.

"I work with small businesses every day. They're already stretched thin dealing with inflation, tariff uncertainty, and skyrocketing healthcare costs. The last thing they need is an IRS that can't answer the phone. Processing centers are understaffed and undertrained, phone lines are overwhelmed, and the services that help small businesses navigate our complex tax code are disappearing right when millions of Americans are filing their returns. Small businesses don't have the bandwidth for this kind of chaos.

"When you gut the IRS, the agency can't afford to go after large corporations with teams of lawyers and complicated returns that take years to audit. Research shows audits of large corporations are the first to go when IRS funding is tight because these audits require highly trained personnel and significant time. So they focus on the easy targets, small businesses.

“Small business owners pay their taxes. Their tax dollars are supposed to fund an agency that helps them comply with the law and ensures everyone else pays their fair share. Instead, those tax dollars are being wasted on a gutted agency that can’t answer phones, can't process returns efficiently, and can’t go after tax evaders. 

"While the IRS struggles to function, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill locked in place a tax code that favors large corporations over small businesses. The complexity of the tax code costs small businesses billions in compliance every year. Our own polling shows 91% of small business owners feel disadvantaged compared to large corporations when it comes to the tax code. 

“A gutted IRS combined with a complex tax code that favors large corporations makes it harder for honest small businesses to comply with the law. We need an IRS that works, and we need a tax code that treats small businesses fairly.”

To request an interview with Small Business for America's Future Co-chair Anne Zimmerman or other small business owners, contact Janel Knight Trulear at (617) 875-6581 or janel@emccommunications.com.

###

About Small Business for America's Future
Small Business for America's Future is a coalition of small business owners and leaders nationwide working to provide small businesses a voice at every level of government. We're committed to ensuring policymakers prioritize Main Street by advancing a just and equitable economic framework that works for small business owners, their employees and their communities. Visit www.smallbusinessforamericasfuture.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.