Feb. 6 marked the deadline for federal workers to accept the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Trump Administration’s offer of a buyout.
These buyouts, or the option of “deferred resignation,” were offered via email from the OPM to over two million federal employees.
All federal workers were given the choice of a buyout due to a majority of federal agencies downsizing by methods of “restructurings, realignments and reductions in force,” according to the OPM’s email sent to federal employees.
As of Wednesday, approximately 40,000 federal employees accepted the buyout offer, which is about 2% of the federal workforce, says Accounting Today. Employees that have chosen to accept the offer and resign will still get paid through September.
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As for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), employees who accepted the buyout offer have been told that they are expected to stay on the job through May 15, due to the agency deeming their work as essential to this year’s tax season.
However, the OPM outlined in its email to federal employees, of all agencies, that if the buyout offer is accepted, then those employees would continue working until Feb. 28 and then would go on paid administrative leave beginning March 1.
This means that while other federal employees are able to go on paid leave on March 1, IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season will not be able to go on paid leave until after the tax filing deadline.
IRS employee who cannot be placed on administrative leave until May include those in job positions within Taxpayer Services, Information Technology and the Taxpayer Advocate Service.
Presley Bo Tyler is a reporter for the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team for Gannett/USA Today. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@Gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Will federal worker buyouts affect the IRS and the 2025 tax season?
