The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will slash its workforce by at least 25% beginning Friday with layoffs as the Trump administration continues to shrink the size of the federal government. 

In addition to the layoffs, the agency said in a letter to employees that it is eliminating its Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, which is responsible for protecting taxpayers from discrimination, audits and investigations.

The remaining employees in the division will be transferred to other departments. 

"In a stark contrast to the previous administration’s wildly unpopular plan to hire thousands of additional IRS agents, President Trump is focused on saving tax dollars, eliminating bloat, axing useless DEI offices, and increasing the agency’s efficiency," White House spokesperson Liz Huston said to Fox News Digital.

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"This action is being taken to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRS in accordance with agency priorities and the Workforce Optimization Initiative outlined in a recent Executive Order," the letter states, referring to President Donald Trump's executive order directing the Department of Government Efficiency to get rid of wasteful spending. 

The agency said it was approved to offer Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP). Information about those programs will be shared with employees at a later date, the message said. 

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"This calendar year to date, approximately 5% of this office left through the Deferred Resignation Program and attrition," the message said. "An additional 75% of the office will be reduced through a RIF (Reduction in Force)."

A Treasury Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the reductions are part of, and driven by, "process improvements and technological innovations that will allow the IRS to collect revenue and serve taxpayers more effectively."

"The roll back of wasteful Biden-era hiring surges, and consolidation of critical support functions are vital to improve both efficiency and quality of service," the spokesperson said. "The Secretary is committed to ensuring that efficiency is realized while providing the collections, privacy, and customer service the American people deserve."

The layoffs were expected, as the agency announced in February its intention to slash nearly 7,000 probationary workers in Washington, D.C.

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Those employees have since been reinstated by a court order.

The IRS has roughly 90,000 employees in total across the United States, according to the latest IRS data. 

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is reportedly cutting thousands of probationary workers as tax season ramps up, according to The Associated Press.

The announcement comes just days after the Trump administration instructed agencies to fire most probationary workers who have not secured civil service protection.

The layoffs could potentially impact hundreds of thousands of people, although the exact number has not yet been confirmed, the AP reported.

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In addition to the probationary cuts, President Donald Trump announced on Jan. 29 that federal employees would be fired if they did not return to in-person work by early February.

A buyout offer, which has been extended, has already been accepted by about 65,000 employees.

The Associated Press reported IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season, which began on Jan. 27, are not eligible for the buyout until after the taxpayer filing deadline, according to a letter sent recently to IRS employees.

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The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is tasked with eliminating wasteful government spending and increasing efficiency, aims to cut $2 trillion from the federal government budget by eliminating programs and trimming the federal workforce.

In January, the IRS announced it was "working to continue the success of the 2023 and 2024 tax filing seasons made possible with additional resources." 

The Biden administration's Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act devoted $80 billion to hire 87,000 new IRS agents, according to a September 2023 report from the House Oversight Committee.

The oversight committee claimed the funds were used to employ agents that specifically targeted middle-class Americans.

The past two filing seasons saw levels of service at roughly 85% and wait times averaging less than 5 minutes on the main phone lines, according to a statement from the IRS in January. There was also a significant increase in the number of taxpayers served at Taxpayer Assistance Centers nationwide.

"This has been a historic period of improvement for the IRS, and people will see additional tools and features to help them with filing their taxes this tax season," IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel wrote in the statement. "These taxpayer-focused improvements we’ve done so far are important, but they are just the beginning of what the IRS needs to do. More can be done with continued investment in the nation’s tax system."

The IRS expects to receive more than 140 million tax returns, according to the AP.

The IRS and Department of Treasury did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment, as of Saturday night.