The Los Angeles Post

Padilla, Schumer, Wyden Urge IRS to Maintain Vital Multilingual Services for Taxpayers

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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.).