The Treasury Inspector General released a report analyzing IRS enforcement trends, showing that enforcement revenue declined significantly in 2025 even as total tax revenue reached historic highs.
Taxpayers paid the IRS $5.3 trillion in fiscal year 2025, up 13.2 percent from fiscal year 2023 and the highest amount ever without adjusting for inflation, according to the report.
Enforcement revenue declined from a record $98.7 billion in fiscal year 2024 to $93.8 billion in fiscal year 2025, primarily because of a 35 percent decline in examination revenue. The decline followed substantial staff reductions. The IRS lost approximately 27 percent of its Examination and Collection staff from fiscal year 2024 to 2025.
Annual appropriations remained at $12.3 billion from fiscal year 2023 through 2025, with approximately $5.2 billion to $5.4 billion annually for enforcement. The agency also exhausted $3.8 billion in supplemental Inflation Reduction Act enforcement funding as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Collection revenue increased 17 percent from fiscal year 2023 to 2025, offsetting declines in other enforcement categories, primarily because of resumed automated collection notices. The IRS sent approximately 3.2 million notices to individual nonfilers in fiscal year 2025, compared with none in 2023.
From fiscal year 2024 to 2025, examinations started for individual returns declined 30 percent, including a 27 percent decline for taxpayers with incomes over $400,000.