India, Feb. 14 -- The Internal Revenue Service has opened the 2026 tax filing season, but a new watchdog memo suggests the agency may face operational strain in the months ahead. According to a report by Forbes, the IRS is beginning the season under pressure from staffing cuts, large backlogs and technology delays.

In a recent memorandum, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) warned that the filing season will start under "strained conditions," shaped by reduced staffing, hiring and training delays, and incomplete modernization efforts. The IRS expects to receive around 164 million individual federal income tax returns for tax year 2025 ahead of the April 15 deadline.

As of December 2025, the IRS had roughly two ...