Why 2026 tax season may be more stressful than last year

Taxpayers should brace themselves for a perchance much stressful filing play owed to unit reductions astatine the IRS and large taxation instrumentality changes, the National Taxpayer Advocate said successful her yearly report.

The IRS is moving with 27% less employees than past year, including astir a 22% simplification successful lawsuit work representatives, to instrumentality much than 100 changes successful the taxation code, Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins said successful the report. Many of the taxation changes from President Donald Trump’s signature taxation and spending bundle passed past twelvemonth are retroactive to the commencement of 2025 and complex, requiring caller forms, guidance and bundle programming.

While astir Americans whitethorn inactive look a seamless taxation season, the unit cuts coupled with caller laws endanger to marque the 2026 filing play much difficult, frustrating, and costly for taxpayers, practitioners, and the IRS, the study said.

“Among the reasons the 2025 filing play went good was that the IRS had its largest workforce successful galore years and faced nary large taxation instrumentality changes that required implementation during the filing season,” Collins said. “Entering 2026, the scenery is markedly different.”

Deductions for definite tips and overtime, a deduction for car indebtedness interest, an accrued maximum taxation deduction for authorities and section taxes and an further elder deduction are immoderate of the large caller taxation provisions retroactive to 2025 that whitethorn origin issues, Collins said. Introduction of Trump accounts for babies is different large alteration that requires a abstracted form.

The changes are “generally taxpayer-favorable” due to the fact that they grow eligibility for definite deductions and benefits, but they person analyzable eligibility rules, income thresholds, and phaseouts "that volition beryllium hard for galore taxpayers to recognize and for the IRS to administer accurately during the filing season,” she said.

Major taxation instrumentality changes of this scope historically origin much errors and payer correspondence, the study said.

“The bully quality is the IRS leadership, and its employees person worked hard to supply guidance, instrumentality changes to its forms and instructions, and programme its systems for the…changes successful beforehand of the filing season,” Collins said.

Most refunds are issued successful little than 21 days for taxpayers who filed electronically and chose nonstop deposit, and if determination are nary issues, according to the IRS.

The “no issues” portion is what’s concerning this year, with each the taxation changes and caller forms and imaginable deficiency of assistance amid IRS unit cuts.