In a move that’s raised more than a few eyebrows, the IRS has slashed nearly 40% of the staff in its elite audit unit — the very team responsible for scrutinizing billionaires and large corporations. Since January, dozens of employees from the Global High Wealth group have been let go, and that timing is raising serious questions.
At the center of this shake-up? Elon Musk — not just the world’s richest man, but now also the face of federal cost-cutting as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a new agency born under the Trump administration.
Lose the Auditors, and We’ll Be OK
The Global High Wealth unit exists for one reason: to audit the ultra-rich. These are complex cases involving offshore accounts, trusts, and corporate shells — exactly the kind of financial maneuvering that allows billionaires to pay shockingly low tax rates.
Cutting this team nearly in half doesn’t just weaken oversight — it guts it. According to multiple reports, critical cases have stalled or disappeared altogether. Former IRS insiders are warning: This benefits one group and one group only — the ultra-wealthy.
A Musk Mission?
Musk’s DOGE has been behind massive federal layoffs, with the IRS taking the hardest hit. Roughly 20,000 workers — about a quarter of the agency — have been laid off, including 75% of the IRS Office of Civil Rights and Compliance.
The official line is “efficiency,” but let’s be real: fewer auditors mean fewer audits. And who gains most when the tax cops are off the beat? Not everyday workers. Not small business owners. The winners here are billionaires and megacorporations.
A Plan to Centralize (and Monetize?) Tax Data
As if mass layoffs weren’t enough, DOGE is pushing a controversial plan to centralize IRS data through a new “mega API.” A federal hackathon is in the works to open up access to taxpayer records — a move that critics say could risk data privacy and open the door to tech contractors like Palantir.
Imagine a world where your tax information is more accessible to private firms than it is to watchdogs. That’s the world we’re stepping into.
Legal Backlash & Bipartisan Warnings
These moves haven’t gone unchallenged. A federal judge has already ordered some fired employees to be reinstated. And former IRS commissioners — both Democratic and Republican — are sounding the alarm: Gutting the IRS’s investigative power risks shifting the tax burden onto working Americans while letting the ultra-rich off the hook.
So What’s the Real Story?
While it’s easy to frame this as a battle over bureaucracy, the truth might be simpler: Firing the IRS staff best equipped to go after billionaires makes life easier for billionaires. And it’s happening under the leadership of one of the richest men alive.
That’s not just a cost-cutting measure. That’s a power shift.
