According to Accounting Today, the IRS has notified Congress that it plans to close nine in-person Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) in six states on Nov. 30 as part of cost-cutting moves. The sites are in Altoona and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Elmira and West Nyack, New York; Owensboro and Paducah, Kentucky; Walnut Creek, California; and Wheeling, West Virginia. These offices are among roughly 360 TACs where taxpayers can book appointments for free, in-person help from IRS staff. 

The announcement follows recent reports that the agency will shut down self-service kiosks installed in about three dozen TACs after many were found to be out of order. The National Treasury Employees Union is opposing the closures. “Taxpayer Assistance Centers are absolutely essential to the nation’s tax system and closing them is the opposite of what the IRS should be doing right now,” said NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald.

The union noted that TACs are especially important for taxpayers without reliable internet access, for older adults, and for anyone who prefers to resolve issues face-to-face. In fiscal year 2023, TACs supported 1.6 million in-person visits. 

The IRS previously closed nine TACs in 2018, drawing criticism from the National Taxpayer Advocate at the time. With funding from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the agency later opened or reopened 54 centers and added about 8,000 hours of service during the 2023 filing season, according to current National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins. 

The closures come as Congress considers the agency’s fiscal year 2026 budget. The House Appropriations Committee advanced a $9.5 billion plan, a 23 percent cut from fiscal year 2025 and $853 million below the administration’s request for taxpayer services.