The IRS has launched a revamped mobile app that lets taxpayers check balances, make payments, track refunds and amended returns, pull up tax transcripts, read notices, and retrieve an Identity Protection PIN — all from a phone. The rollout comes as the agency’s workforce has shrunk by roughly 30 percent under President Donald Trump’s second administration.
IRS Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano is framing the app as part of a broader strategy rather than a stopgap. “The IRS mobile app puts more services at taxpayers’ fingertips and makes it easier to interact with the IRS from a mobile device,” he said. “This is another step forward in our digital-first agenda and our commitment to making IRS services easier to access and more consistent for taxpayers.”
Bisignano has also pushed back on the idea that the agency is simply modernizing. “We’re not modernizing the IRS. It’s not a word I use,” he said. “We’re transforming the IRS through advanced technology.”
Fewer People, Fewer Answers
The IRS began this filing season with about 74,000 employees, down from roughly 102,000 a year earlier. The agency’s IT division was hit even harder, losing about 42 percent of its staff. The National Taxpayer Advocate has documented longer wait times for personal assistance and fewer experienced staff available to handle complicated cases.
The strain shows up in the numbers. Live assistors answered 20 percent fewer calls than the previous year, and the number of fully staffed Taxpayer Assistance Centers dropped from 102 to 42. Even so, the IRS says it processed nearly 99 percent of individual returns this filing season.
What the App Does
Users who sign in can view balances and payment history, make payments, check the status of refunds and amended returns, access transcripts and other records, read notices and letters, retrieve an Identity Protection PIN, and update certain profile information such as email and bank-account details.
Anyone with the older IRS2Go app and automatic updates turned on will receive the new version automatically. Others can download it free from the Apple or Google app stores. IRS.gov remains available for services that haven’t yet moved to mobile, and the agency says it plans to add more features over time, though it hasn’t specified which ones or when.
Security Questions Remain
Moving tax records and payment access onto phones raises the stakes on cybersecurity. Bisignano told FOX Business the app is “100%, 100% secure” and said the IRS continuously monitors for cyber threats. Government watchdogs have repeatedly flagged cybersecurity shortcomings at the agency in the past, and the IRS itself is warning taxpayers to download only the official app and to watch for look-alike apps and fraudulent messages claiming to be from the agency.
Some of the new features route through ID.me, an outside identity-verification service. Taxpayers leave the IRS app, verify their identity through ID.me, and then return. ID.me has previously faced scrutiny over its use of facial recognition and handling of taxpayer data.
The Identity Theft Backlog
The agency has also been working through a large backlog of identity-theft cases, which climbed to roughly 500,000 in 2024 before being cut by more than half, according to figures Bisignano has discussed; he said processing times have improved as well. But the problem hasn’t been resolved. The National Taxpayer Advocate reported that Identity Theft Victim Assistance cases were still taking an average of about 600 days to close during fiscal year 2026.
The app can shift some routine tasks away from IRS staff, but it doesn’t replace them for taxpayers who need to talk to a person about a complicated problem.
