The Trump administration is reportedly considering eliminating language services at the Internal Revenue Service, a move that would make it significantly more difficult for non-English speaking individuals to file their taxes.
The report comes from two individuals familiar with the plans who spoke to The Washington Post.
The individuals said that the IRS is currently considering how it could comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring English the U.S.’s official language. The validity of that order has been questioned by some legal scholars.
“Establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication but also reinforce shared national values, and create a more cohesive and efficient society,” Trump’s order says.
On July 14, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo to federal agencies directing them on how to implement Trump’s executive order. The memo requires officials to produce department-wide plans to “phase out unnecessary multilingual offerings” and to “consider redirecting these funds towards research and programs that would expedite English-language acquisition and increase English-language proficiency and assimilation.”
“A shared language binds Americans together, transcending different backgrounds to create a common foundation for public discourse, government operations, and civic life, while leaving ample room for the vibrant linguistic diversity that thrives in private and community spheres,” Bondi wrote in the memo.
Despite Trump’s executive order, the U.S. has no standing law establishing English as the national language.
Responding to Bondi’s memo, the U.S. Treasury Department — which oversees the IRS — wrote in email responses on Sunday that the IRS would have to reevaluate its “commitment to assist non-English speaking taxpayers understand their tax obligations.”
The agency currently has a policy in place requiring it to serve “those who lack a full command of the English language.”
The Treasury also noted it would have to decide if it would keep all of its translations for more than 100 financial forms in Spanish and other languages, as well as free phone and in-person translation services. The IRS also maintains a multilingual website and Spanish-language social media accounts and programs.
The move comes at a time when some non-English speaking taxpayers are fearful that the IRS may cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in its ongoing efforts to find undocumented immigrants and deport them. That fear has reportedly led to severe drops in tax compliance among immigrant communities in some parts of the country.
The IRS has already renewed its contract for phone interpreter services, according to two people familiar with the issue who spoke to The Washington Post. That contract was deemed necessary by senior IRS and Treasury Department officials after DOGE demanded it review all of its contacts. The interpreter service contract was only extended for a few months and will expire before the end of the year.
