The IRS's regular estimate of the “tax gap,” the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid on time, has not been updated under the second Trump administration. The agency's own tax gap page lists its schedule as “Fall of calendar year 2025—new tax gap estimates and projections (delayed).” The most recent figure, published in October 2024, projected a gross gap of $696 billion for tax year 2022.
The Tax Policy Center reported in August that IRS chief executive Frank Bisignano had questioned the usefulness of the estimates in congressional hearings and said he was reviewing an “addressable” tax gap instead. It warned, “Without timely updates, policymakers and other users will have less evidence for judging how tax-law and staffing changes affect compliance and collections.”
The delay comes as the agency's enforcement capacity has shrunk. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported in late August that revenue from IRS audits fell 35 percent in fiscal 2025, to $6.5 billion from $10 billion, as examination and collection staff fell to 17,517 as of January 2026, almost 10,000 fewer than in fiscal 2024, CBS News reported. “These losses present a challenge to improving taxpayer service and enforcing the nation's tax laws,” the inspector general wrote. Total enforcement revenue was $93.8 billion in fiscal 2025, down from a record $98.7 billion, the Journal of Accountancy reported.