Personally, our foolish prediction for 2025 was that Rihanna would finally release new music, and, well, that song for the Smurfs movie doesn’t count. So, we’re 0–1 predictions-wise this year.

We’re not alone: Dealmakers expected a very different 2025 than we’ve had so far.

“If we were to look back 12 months and six months, I think we all were looking for 2025 to be a banner year for M&A,” Kevin Desai, US deals platform leader at PwC, said at a talk with reporters tied to the firm’s 2025 midyear deals outlook. “I think with the new incoming administration, what was thought to be a more business-friendly environment with interest rates coming into clarity, with inflation coming down, it was poised to be a good year.”

But it hasn’t exactly been a good year, with deal volume (4,535) and value ($567 billion) remaining flat compared to 2024, per PwC’s midyear outlook. That’s actually something of an accomplishment, Desai pointed out, “just given the level of new uncertainty.” Still, not the year some may have expected.

In May, a PwC survey found that about 30% of executives responding had paused or planned to revisit deals because of tariffs. “When you look at it across sectors, it’s interesting that it’s affecting all sectors relatively equally—even financial services, telecom,” Desai noted.

What does the rest of 2025 look like for deals?—NP

A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what is cool? A billion dollars…in AI investment.

Accounting firm RSM is investing $1 billion in AI over the next three years. This marks a huge jump over the $150 million to $200 million the firm has spent on AI in the past three years.

With this investment, RSM joins Ernst & Young, PwC, KPMG, and Deloitte, which have all dumped money into AI since 2023.

According to a recent press release, RSM plans to integrate agentic AI into workflows. These agentic systems that can autonomously take actions and make decisions will enhance RSM’s tax offerings, auditing services, compliance tracking, and data analysis.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Sergio de la Fe, enterprise digital leader and partner with RSM US, explained how one of the AI systems, RSM Atlas, has boosted productivity by as much as 80%. The tool uses generative AI to review regulations and confirm compliance—work that was previously done manually, one rule at a time. RSM applies a similar system to audits, freeing employees from the grind of combing through a 100-page checklist.

Click here for more on RSM’s AI investment.—JK

If you’ve ever considered committing tax evasion, this could be the year to do it, because the IRS might be too understaffed to catch tax dodgers.

The IRS will be staffed at its lowest level since 2019, its budget was slashed by 37%, and employees will decrease by 20% compared to the 2025 fiscal year. According to a report from the Treasury Department, the agency will have 77,728 total employees, a drop from 96,700 last year, and its budget will decline from nearly $22.5 billion to $14.2 billion.

In a May report, The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recorded that 11% of employees left the IRS department in the first quarter of 2025.

With these budget cuts, the IRS plans to trim technology and operations support by 59%, and enforcement employees by 31%. And even with a plan to increase phone operators by 11,158 full-time employees (a 48% increase), the IRS says it’ll only be able to answer 16% of calls during next year’s tax season. So if you need to reach the IRS, plan on getting really sick of its hold music.

For more on IRS budget cuts, click here.—JK