The surprise withdrawal of Donald Korb’s nomination for the top IRS attorney position puts the Trump administration in an uphill struggle to find the next nominee.

Welcome to the weekend edition of tax and accounting news from Bloomberg Tax. Today, we’re highlighting some of 2025’s biggest stories so you’re caught up on what matters most.

The IRS legal division—which lost hundreds of workers and a slate of managers this year—is central to most agency decisions, including implementation of major tax laws and any issues that arise during filing season. Ken Kies, assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy, is serving as acting chief counsel.

President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of Korb’s nomination comes after Billy Long, Trump’s pick for IRS commissioner, was ousted just two months into his tenure. The removals, combined with historic churn among IRS leaders and rank-and-file workers, make it difficult to predict who would be willing to accept a nomination. Read More

Billy Long spent just over 50 days leading an IRS battered by workforce cuts and disputes among top leaders. Long—a former Missouri Republican lawmaker who previously backed abolishing the IRS and was an unlikely choice to lead the agency—had brought cautious optimism to IRS workers looking for consistency after months of turmoil.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has taken over the role, the seventh person this year to have the job nobody in Washington seems to want. The constant leadership changes likely will complicate filing season preparations and make it harder for the IRS to collect money to fund the federal government, former IRS officials said.

The revolving door of commissioners “really doesn’t benefit an administration if it wants to make big changes at an agency rather than act as a caretaker,” said Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union. Read More

Trump’s IRS intends to release its strategic operating plan by the summer of 2026, replacing a blueprint developed during former President Joe Biden’s administration, officials told the Government Accountability Office. Read More

Since Trump took office for a second time, the IRS has faced transformative changes, including a substantial reduction in its workforce and the appointment of seven different commissioners or acting commissioners.

Those changes, alongside controversial moves like challenging the nonprofit status of Harvard University and sharing of taxpayer information with the Department of Homeland Security, were presented as efforts to restore the IRS’s impartiality.

In this video, tax reporters Erin Slowey and Erin Schilling, along with former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel and Northwestern Pritzker School of Law professor Ajay K. Mehrotra, delve into the state of the agency.

Watch the entire video here.

President Donald Trump, center, signs the GOP tax-and-spending law on July 4, 2025.

Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg

Trump signed his $3.4 trillion tax and spending bill into law July 4, enshrining an extension of tax cuts, temporary new breaks for tipped workers and funding to crack down on illegal immigration.

The package encompasses a suite of priorities Trump campaigned on in 2024 — and its enactment at a White House ceremony represents a major political victory for the president whose second term was marked until now by executive rather than legislative action.

Republican legislative leaders overcame narrow margins, unified opposition from congressional Democrats, and objections by fiscal conservatives and moderates to pass the bill before Trump’s deadline, which coincided with the Independence Day holiday.

Yet the legislative success comes with political risks for the president and Republicans with consequences that could rumble for years. Read More

The tax and spending law will add $3.4 trillion to US deficits over a decade and leave millions without health care coverage, according to an estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Read More

BGOV OnPoint: Republicans Pass Sweeping Tax, Border Bill

US states sounded the alarm over the billions in revenue they stand to lose under the Trump administration’s broadscale government cuts and the impact of his trade policies.

In Maryland, the reductions are expected to cost nearly $350 million and led Moody’s Ratings to lower the state’s top-tier credit grade it had held for half a century. California officials say on-again, off-again tariff announcements have dampened the state’s economic outlook. Illinois, already facing fiscal strains, says Trump has made the situation worse. And New Mexico lawmakers are considering a special session to deal with the fallout from DC policy. Even states run by Republicans are bracing for impact. Read More

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White House Seeks ‘Big Beautiful’ Rebrand as GOP Bill Falls Flat
Democrats Call Out Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ at Town Halls
Trump Tax Law Squeezes Poor, Boosts Income for Wealthy: CBO

EU countries’ taxation of American tech companies drew threats of retaliation from the Trump administration.

The Office of the US Trade Representative singled out companies, including Accenture, Siemens, and Spotify Technology as possible targets in a Dec. 16 social media post: “Should responsive measures be necessary, U.S. law permits the assessment of fees or restrictions on foreign services, among other actions.”

Trump administration officials have accused the EU of flouting the terms in its trade deal with the US, specifically the bloc’s commitment to “address unjustified digital trade barriers.” The president also has repeatedly criticized digital services taxes as nontariff trade barriers that harm American businesses—and he’s threatened “substantial” tariffs on countries that impose them.

The dispute over DSTs hangs over ongoing trade negotiations between the EU and the US, as Europeans seek new tariff exemptions. The US and the EU are also working to finalize an agreement before the end of the year on separate treatment for US firms under the global minimum tax framework. Read More