IRS considers eliminating non-English language tax services

Washington Post

5 days ago

Trump administration officials are considering eliminating multi-language services at the IRS, according to records obtained by The Washington Post and two people familiar with the situation, a move that would make it dramatically more difficult for non-English-speaking individuals to file their taxes.
The people said the IRS is evaluating how to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order declaring English the official language of the United States — a power that some legal scholars say the president does not have. Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisal.
Attorney General Pam Bondi issued guidance to federal agencies on July 14 on how to implement that order. It requires officials to release department-wide plans 'to phase out unnecessary multilingual offerings' and 'consider redirecting these funds towards research and programs that would expedite English-language acquisition and increase English-language proficiency and assimilation.'
'A shared language binds Americans together, transcending different backgrounds to create a common foundation for public discourse, government operations, and civic life, while leaving ample room for the vibrant linguistic diversity that thrives in private and community spheres,' Bondi's memo said.
The United States by law does not require an official language, though Trump signed an order on March 1 declaring it 'in America's best interest for the Federal Government to designate one — and only one — official language.'
'Establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication but also reinforce shared national values, and create a more cohesive and efficient society,' Trump's order states.
In response to Bondi's guidance, Treasury Department officials wrote in emails Sunday that the IRS would need to revaluate the agency's 'Commitment to assist non-English speaking taxpayers understand their tax obligations states,' a policy that now requires it to serve 'those who lack a full command of the English language.'
It may also need to review — and decide whether to cease providing — translations for more than 100 forms in Spanish and other languages, free phone and in-person translation services, the IRS's multi-language website, its Spanish-language social media accounts and programs that allow taxpayers to receive forms and notifications in the language of their choosing.
Representatives from the White House and Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment. A Justice Department representative declined to comment.
It's not clear how other federal agencies are will implement Trump's order. Bondi said, in her guidance, that she was ending the federal government's Limited English Proficiency services, which dictates how agencies serve individuals for whom English is not their first language or who struggle with English comprehension.
The IRS's current civil rights policy says the agency 'does not tolerate discrimination by its employees against anyone because of age, sex, color, disability, race, religion, and national origin (including limited English proficiency).'
The tax service eliminated its civil rights division in April. Separately, fears among Spanish-speaking taxpayers about the IRS's collaboration with immigration enforcement officials led to steep drops in tax compliance among immigrant communities in certain parts of the country.
'Somebody is calling usually because they have a problem, and if they can't get through to someone who speaks their language, it just delays everything,' said Carlos Lopez, who runs a multilingual tax prep service in Salinas, California. 'The people who are calling the IRS are looking for help for free, most of the time because they can't afford it. So what do you do? You don't pay.'
The IRS in March renewed its contract for phone interpreter services, according to two other people familiar with the matter, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisal. Officials from the U.S. DOGE Service, the Trump administration's cost-cutting arm, had required the tax agency to review all of its expiring contracts.
Senior IRS and Treasury Department officials agreed the interpreters were necessary, the people said, though the contract was renewed for only a handful of months. It is set to expire before the end of the year, one of the people said. It is unclear whether new IRS Commissioner Billy Long will continue the services.
'I believe maintaining multilingual options for how taxpayers engage the IRS is essential to the mission,' Danny Werfel, the IRS commissioner under the Biden administration, said in an interview. 'The IRS is charged with helping people and businesses meet their tax obligations. The more comprehensively the IRS does that, regardless of what language they do it in, the better the financial bottom line of our nation's government will be.'
Building the IRS's multilingual capabilities was a priority of Trump's first-term IRS commissioner, Charles Rettig.
The son of a German immigrant and the spouse of a native Vietnamese speaker, Rettig led the agency to provide tax-filing forms in Spanish beginning in 2021 and to translate the IRS's 20 most issued notices into Spanish, simplified and traditional Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian.
That year, there were nearly 90 million visits to non-English pages on the IRS's website, the agency reported.