Padilla, Schumer, Wyden Urge IRS to Maintain Vital Multilingual Services for Taxpayers
Senators: “Maintaining and expanding multilanguage services is critical to the federal government’s financial bottom line.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and 23 Democratic Senators pressed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to maintain its non-English language or limited English proficiency services for taxpayers amid reports that the Trump Administration is considering eliminating these programs. The Senators emphasized that these widely used services are necessary for the IRS to fulfill its responsibility to provide all of America’s taxpayers top-quality service by helping them understand and pay their taxes.
Following President Trump’s Executive Order 14224 “Designating English as the Official Language of the United States,” Attorney General Pam Bondi directed all federal agencies to “determine which of their programs, grants, and policies might serve the public at large better if operated exclusively in English.” The IRS’ wide array of multilingual services – many started during President Trump’s first term – are essential to helping non-English speakers file their taxes. Any attempt by the current Trump Administration to discontinue these programs would not only hurt taxpayers but would also decrease revenue collection from voluntary filings.
“It is obvious that IRS programs would not serve the public at large better if operated exclusively in English,” wrote the Senators. “If the federal government wants taxpayers who do not speak or who are not proficient in English to play by the rules – to file returns and pay taxes – the IRS needs to be able to communicate with and engage them in a language they can understand.
“Given the increasing size of the federal debt, the federal government cannot afford to lose even more tax revenue, especially since recent violations of taxpayer privacy laws have undermined trust in the agency, potentially reducing voluntary tax compliance,” continued the Senators. “Maintaining and expanding multilanguage services is critical to the federal government’s financial bottom line.”
Examples of IRS’ limited English proficiency services (LEP) created and administered over the last two administrations include Schedule LEP (which allows taxpayers to provide a language preference for communications with the IRS), multilingual toll-free telephone lines, translation of IRS forms and instructions, Spanish language versions of the interactive online “Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant,” and assistance to visually impaired individuals.
The Senators asked Secretary of the Treasury and acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent to provide a full list of services being evaluated for potential elimination, assessments conducted on the potential impact these cuts on tax collection, and detailed justifications for any decisions to slash existing LEP services.
In addition to Senators Padilla, Schumer, and Wyden, the letter was also signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Earlier this year, Padilla, Wyden, Cortez Masto, and Warren urged the acting Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to investigate several reports of the Trump Administration potentially violating strict taxpayer privacy laws by providing highly sensitive and legally protected taxpayer data to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and personnel affiliated with Elon Musk across various federal agencies. The Senators’ request came after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signed a memorandum of understanding with DHS to provide an unprecedented level of access to IRS taxpayer data for open-ended investigations and immigration enforcement. Padilla, Cortez Masto, and Wyden previously condemned the IRS’ plan to provide sensitive taxpayer information to DHS to locate suspected undocumented immigrants, and raised the alarm on initial reports that DHS and the Department of Government Efficiency illegally requested sensitive taxpayer information from the IRS.
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
Dear Secretary Bessent:
We write to express our alarm regarding recent reports that, in response to President Trump’s Executive Order 14224 “Designating English as the Official Language of the United States,” the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is considering eliminating multilanguage services that the agency currently provides. We strongly urge that the IRS maintain these non-English language services to ensure that the agency does not undermine its ability to meet its mission to “provide America’s taxpayers top-quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all.”
Any move to eliminate multiple language services would go against the IRS’ core mission statement. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s July 14, 2025, memo on implementation of EO 14224 says that “agencies should determine which of their programs, grants, and policies might serve the public at large better if operated exclusively in English.” It is obvious that IRS programs would not serve the public at large better if operated exclusively in English. If the federal government wants taxpayers who do not speak or who are not proficient in English to play by the rules – to file returns and pay taxes – the IRS needs to be able to communicate with and engage them in a language they can understand.
Moreover, the IRS’ existing limited English proficiency (LEP) services rolled out over the last two administrations – including Schedule LEP, the multilingual toll-free line, translation of IRS forms and notices, the Spanish language version of the online tool “Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant,” and improved assistance for the visually impaired – have all improved both voluntary tax compliance and service to America’s taxpayers by helping them understand the tax law that they are required to follow.
Eliminating such programs would make it substantially more difficult for non-English-speaking individuals to file their taxes, negatively impacting revenue collection. Given the increasing size of the federal debt, the federal government cannot afford to lose even more tax revenue, especially since recent violations of taxpayer privacy laws have undermined trust in the agency, potentially reducing voluntary tax compliance. Maintaining and expanding multilanguage services is critical to the federal government’s financial bottom line.
We ask that you provide more information about these plans and the potential impacts:
- Please provide a full list of services that are being evaluated for potential elimination.
- Please provide the internal assessments conducted on the potential impact of removing the above non-English services on tax collection.
- Please provide any external assessments of potential impacts that were reviewed by the agency in making this decision.
- Please provide detailed justifications for any decisions made to eliminate existing LEP services.
In reviewing the IRS’ LEP services, we ask that you reaffirm the agency’s existing commitment to assist non-English speaking taxpayers understand their tax obligations. We ask that you provide a response with the requested information by August 29, 2025.
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