Erin Collins

The IRS performed better than expected in processing tax refunds during the 2026 tax season despite significant staff reductions, but struggled with answering phone calls, particularly for identity theft victims. A watchdog report highlighted that 59% of major account calls were answered, while compliance and identity theft lines had 34% and 19% answer rates, respectively, with identity theft cases taking nearly two years to resolve.

The IRS performed better than expected in processing refunds during the 2026 tax season despite significant staff reductions but struggled with phone support, particularly for identity theft victims. The IRS reduced its workforce from 102,000 to 74,000 employees, and only 19% of calls to identity theft lines were answered, with victims waiting nearly two years for assistance.

The IRS performed better than expected in processing tax refunds during the 2026 tax season despite significant workforce reductions, but struggled with phone service and long wait times for identity theft victims. A watchdog report highlighted 59% of major account calls were answered, while compliance and identity theft lines had 34% and 19% answer rates, respectively. Over 500,000 identity theft victims face average resolution times of 20 months.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is holding a news conference in Sweetwater at 10 a.m. at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Miami Regional Operations Center. He will be joined by representatives from law enforcement, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Alliance to End Human Trafficking, and Uber.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is holding a press conference in Miami on human trafficking with officials including Florida Department of Law Enforcement Assistant Commissioner John Vecchio and Florida Alliance to End Human Trafficking Executive Director Erin Collins. Uthmeier also filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, accusing the company of prioritizing profit over safety and harming users.