IRS delays data on 2025 tax law's effects as midterms near; critics allege concealment

Left · 2The IRS has not released its detailed annual tax data for the latest filing season, which would give the first detailed look at how taxpayers are using the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including its new deductions for overtime wages and tipped income, according to reporting by Politico relayed by both outlets. 1 2 Left · 2The data was scheduled for release in July and updated in September, but neither has happened, and the IRS is waiting for approval from the Treasury Department, which Scott Bessent leads, to publish it. 1 2 Left · 1The Independent says the report is listed on the IRS website as "pending". 2

Left · 1The numbers document which tax breaks were claimed by people in different income brackets and how much they paid in taxes. The IRS typically releases them after each filing season. 1 Left · 1A Trump administration official told Politico in an emailed statement that its "priority is to release accurate and reliable data" following "major changes" to the tax code. 1 Left · 2Nina Olson, a former national taxpayer advocate who now leads the Center for Taxpayer Rights, told Politico: "I think they are hiding stuff that doesn’t line up with all the crowing the CEO has been doing." She was referring to IRS chief Frank Bisignano, who has joined Republican lawmakers in promoting the tax breaks to voters. 1 2

Left · 2Raw Story notes that the data has "caused problems for the majority party before": figures from the first year after the 2017 tax cuts showed fewer people taking deductions for charitable contributions. The Independent adds that the data may also reveal the IRS's failures to audit wealthy households. 1 2 Left · 1Who benefits from the law is disputed. A Congressional Budget Office analysis from August 2025 estimated that, over 2026 to 2034, resources would fall for households at the bottom of the income distribution and rise for middle and upper households. House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said the CBO "has a troubled track record of getting its estimates incorrect." 1 Left · 1The Independent cites an October 8 analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which concluded that the law "overwhelmingly benefits the rich and corporations". Its author, Steve Wamhoff, said the typical American in every income group is paying more, except the richest 1 percent. 2

Left · 2Both outlets place the delay within a pattern of withheld tax data. The IRS has not published its "tax gap" estimate of taxes owed but unpaid since October 2024. An IRS spokesperson told the Boston Globe in September that the agency is updating its methodology and will release the figure when it is ready. 1 2 Left · 1The Independent adds that the last projection put uncollected taxes at roughly $700 billion for 2022. It reports that a Treasury inspector general found audit revenue fell by more than a third over the last fiscal year, alongside a 27 percent cut in IRS enforcement and collection staffing under the Department of Government Efficiency. It also places the delay within wider accusations that the administration has withheld or altered federal data. 2