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Taxpayers calling the IRS for help processing their taxes this filing season may find it harder than normal to get someone on the phone, experts say, a problem that is only expected to get worse next year with staffing cuts that could slash the workforce considerably. For this year, data of tax return processing times shows numbers largely in line with those from last year. IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were not allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until after the taxpayer filing deadline of April 15, though thousands of probationary workers were laid off earlier this year. Legal experts in tax compliance say the long wait times are going to increase as more buyouts and layoffs take effect. Eric Santos, the executive director of the Georgia Tax Clinic, which provides free tax law services to low-income taxpayers, says wait times for the IRS phone line are markedly longer than usual and IRS staff are overwhelmed with the increase in work. The IRS staff “basically tell us they dont have time to look at certain cases, Santos said. The work is getting spread across fewer and fewer people. The reduction in workers which may end up being nearly half the entire IRS workforce is part of the Trump administrations efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through billionaire Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency by closing agencies, laying off nearly all probationary employees who have not yet gained civil service protection and offering buyouts to almost all federal employees through a deferred resignation program. Earlier this month, the IRS began layoffs that could end up cutting as many as 20,000 staffers up to 25% of the total workforce. The roughly 7,000 probationary IRS workers who were laid off beginning in February were recently ordered to be reinstated by a federal judge, though it’s unclear whether those workers have been called back into work. Comparing figures through the first week of April from 2024 and 2025, 101.4 million returns were processed this year compared to 101.8 million tax returns last year. Refunds are up, with 67.7 million issued this year compared with 66.7 million in 2024. But Santos and others worry that the 2026 filing season could be negatively impacted by the loss of thousands of additional tax collection workers who are expected to exit the agency through planned layoffs and buyouts. I dont see how theyre going to keep up with tax filing season next year, Santos said. I think its a fair question to ask now. A Treasury spokesperson who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity said in a statement that IRS staffing reductions were part of other improvements the agency is taking to be more efficient and improve service. Sakinah Tillman, director of the University of the District of Columbia Tax Clinic, has not seen a delay in processing refunds this year but has seen delays in reaching the IRS by phone. She worries that the phone delays could hurt clients going through collections who are trying to settle their debts. What happens when clients try to become compliant?” she asked. “Or when people who are willing and able to pay but they just cant get someone on the phone? Former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told the AP that even in a normal year the IRS’ responsiveness slows the further into tax season it gets. Next year, if they cut 10,000 or 20,000 employees, they’re headed back to really bad taxpayer service on the phone, he said. “And the taxpayer priority line will become an oxymoron. Fatima Hussein, Associated Press
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Last week, Apple announced it would cancel one of the first shows that it had ever green lit for its Apple TV Plus streaming service: Mythic Quest, a show that first launched on the tech giants then-fledgling streaming service in February 2020. The show, which followed the escapades of an MMORPG video game developer, was axed after the last episode of its fourth season, which aired on March 26. Like many season finales, the last episode of Mythic Quest ended on a cliffhanger, so when viewers learned of its cancellation, they assumed that they would never get any resolution to the storyline and characters that they had followed for four seasons. Yet then Apple did something unexpected: It allowed the show producers to reedit the season four ending to give closure to the storylineand fans. Streaming TV is littered with unresolved cliffhangers If there’s one thing subscribers to streaming services have come to accept, its that they shouldnt get too connected to a new series. Why? Because you never know if the streamer is going to ax it after just a season or two. One streamer in particularNetflixis notorious for doing this. The streaming giant will often premiere new series to see what sticks with audiences. But even if those series are critically and commercially well-received, thats no guarantee that viewership will be high enough to clear whatever bar Netflix uses to justify a next season. Often, it isn’tand this has left a slew of abruptly canceled shows that ended on cliffhangers and left fans unsure of how things would have ended. Such shows include the critically acclaimed zombie series Black Summer, the horror series Archive 81, the sitcom Space Force, and the science fiction show 1899, just to name a few. All had seasons that ended on major cliffhangersonly for the series to be canceled shortly after. To be fair, Netflix isnt the only streamer that does this. HBO Max and Amazon Prime are guilty of this, too. And, of course, before the world of streaming, network television was also guilty of canceling shows on cliffhangers, though not to the degree that streamers appear to be willing to do it. Historically, networks were always more generous with giving shows the time they needed to find an audienceeven if that took three or four seasons. But what is unheard of is a streamer allowing the creatives of a canceled series to go back and reedit the already-aired last episode so that the show and its fans can have some proper closure. Yet thats precisely what Apple has now done. ‘Mythic Quest’ fans get closure Last Friday, Mythic Quests creators and executive producers, Megan Ganz, David Hornsby, and Rob McElhenney, announced that Apple has given them permission to reedit the original season four cliffhanger to provide closure to the storyline, characters, and fans. Endings are hard. But after four incredible seasons, Mythic Quest is coming to a close. Were so proud of the show and the world we got to buildand deeply grateful to every cast and crew member who poured their heart into it. To all our fans, thank you for playing with us. To our partners at Apple, thank you for believing in the vision from the very beginning, the trio said in a statement (via Deadline). David Hornsby, Danny Pudi, Jessie Ennis, Imani Hakim, and Ashly Burch in the season four finale of “Mythic Quest” [Photo: Apple TV+] But they continued: Because endings are hard, with Apples blessing we made one final update to our last episodeso we could say goodbye, instead of just game over. That final update to the shows last episode is a reedit of the series four finale, titled Heaven and Hell. At this time, it is unknown how significantly the final episode has been reedited, but it will be released on Apple TV Plus later this week. Probably not a sign of things to come While fans of the show will no doubt be happy that at least they will get some closure to the storyline and characters that they have followed for years, its unlikely that Apples move represents the beginning of a seismic shift in the streaming industry. Its not known why Apple has decided to allow the show’s creators to go back and edit the last episodeor what the terms of the deal were. Mythic Quests creators statement suggests that no new scenes were shot, and instead, they accomplished the reedit simply by using existing footage they had already shot. Fast Company has reached out to Apple for comment. But realistically, we probably shouldnt expect other streamers to follow suit. Streaming services cancel dozens of shows each year, and most shows that suddenly get canceled likely wouldnt have enough unused footage to reedit a final cliffhanger episode into something that provides a cohesive amount of closure. Its also unlikely that a streamer would be willing to pay for the creatives and star to go back out to shoot new footage to provide such closure, given that theyve already canceled the show and thus didnt see the value in it to their bottom line. However, what will be interesting to see is how Apple handles the reedited episode. It is unknown whether Apple will keep the originally streamed season four finale on Apple TV Plus alongside the new edit of the episode or simply remove the original entirely. Either way, fans of Mythic Quest will be happy that the show is getting the concrete ending that all shows deserve.
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Pet owners know finding a good veterinarian is hard. But in much of the country, finding a vet at all is increasingly tough. A new report released by veterinary telemedicine company Dutch, found that around 38% or 129 million Americans may be living in a veterinary care desert, meaning they don’t have accessible, affordable, or available care for their pets. Dutch’s State of Online Veterinary Care report found that 22% counties nationwide have zero vets per 1,000 households, and pet care is particularly hard to come by in parts of California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas. It’s an issue founder and CEO Joe Spector says likely won’t improve quickly. There are around 34 veterinary schools in the United States, while theres almost 400 medical schools, says Spector, a cofounder of telehealth service Hims. We just don’t produce that many veterinarians and the veterinarians we do produce drop out [from burnout]. Spector started Dutch because he saw an opportunity for a vet telehealth approach to help address gaps in care. Launched in 2021, Dutch connects pet owners from anywhere in the country to licensed veterinarians over video call and chat for 150 conditions for dogs and cats. With a membership program that allows unlimited consultations starting at $11 a month, the company says it’s seen 600,000 patients since launch, and can save pet owners $700 per year. These are the folks who otherwise would not see a veterinarian otherwise, because we’ve made it far more affordable, he says. Cost aside, some veterinary organizations are hesitant to embrace telehealth for pets. The American Veterinary Medical Associationa nonprofit organization representing over 108,000 stakeholders involved with the veterinary professionsays because most telehealth visits are for acute conditions, they aren’t likely to address issues that will eventually require an in-person vet visit. “Not surprisingly, remote areas without a veterinarian often also lack reliable internet access, making the use of telemedicine impractical,” the AVMA says on its site about telehealth vet care. “Mobile veterinary services are a better option not only in terms of access, but also quality of care.” Spector, echoing Dutch’s report, asserts that 90% of veterinary care can be addressed virtually, and notes the company offers additional diagnostic tools for pet owners. “Between overnight testing kits . . . and what we’re able to examine on video, there’s actually a lot that we can do via telemedicine to at least establish that initial treatment plan. In the four years that Dutch has been active, the company has hired vets in all 50 states. Though Dutch vets can only write prescriptions for patients in 34 states, Spector has been working with state legislators to increase that number. “Change in any field is hard he says. But if we can look at human telemedicine, I think at the end of the day we can see . . . how telemedicine has simply become another useful tool that we can use. We don’t have to use it, but it’s yet another option that makes care more affordable and accessible.
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