Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
anti-crime branch of ir Spent less time tracking down tax evaders this year, instead taking on some new responsibilities, such as helping and supporting immigration enforcement National Guard Deploying in two Democratic-led cities.
IRS criminal investigations chief Guy Ficco spoke to The Associated Press about how the agency is fitting its work into the Trump administration’s new priorities alongside its core mission of tax enforcement. The little-known agency is doing more with less staff, according to its annual report released Thursday.
Ficco, who served as head of the IRS criminal investigations unit during both the Biden and Trump presidencies, described his workforce as “resilient” after the Department of Government Efficiency cut the unit earlier this year.
“I think, by anyone’s account, 2025 has been challenging in the sense that it’s always a challenge when administrations change,” Fico said in the interview.
Combined with layoffs and retirements this year, Ficco said, “we are now down to a significant number of personnel.”
There was a 10% reduction in personnel for the unit in fiscal year 2025 – from 3,474 field agents and professional staff in 2024 to 3,143 in 2025.
The agency has also had to manage a larger workload after Trump deployed troops to help combat crime, sending about 25 agents to support the National Guard. WashingtonDC
In September, agents also began assisting National Guard operations in Memphis. In February, the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem Asked to borrow IRS criminal investigation workers to help his agency’s immigration operations.
Since May, the IRS unit has deployed 250 agents to locate undocumented people and issue deportation orders, Fico said. IRS-CI said its agents have assisted ICE in arrests, detentions and deportations.
Meanwhile, the agency increased the number of investigations into corporate and financial institution fraud, money laundering and several other crimes. However, one area that has seen a decline is the investigation of “abusive tax schemes” or tax evasion.
IRS-CI issued 834 prosecution recommendations for tax crimes in fiscal year 2025. But tax evasion cases declined from 92 in 2024 to 34 in 2025, and 17 prosecutions were recommended this year compared to 55 in 2024.
Some cases that IRS-CI previously recommended for prosecution are awaiting action from the DOJ, and “may ultimately be prosecuted in the near future,” Ficco said.