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WASHINGTON – American taxpayers would face a degradation in services and a larger federal deficit if Congress cuts an additional $20 billion from the ongoing rebuild and modernization of the IRS.
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents frontline IRS employees around the country, is urging Congress to preserve the intent of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and continue the investments that are vastly improving customer service for law-abiding taxpayers and strengthening enforcement against those who try to dodge their tax bill.
“Anyone who interacts with the IRS – by phone, in person or online – can attest to the progress over the last two years, and now we are in danger of going backward,” said NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald. “A second $20 billion reduction in the long-term improvement fund of the IRS would have dire consequences for those who care about efficient government and lowering the federal deficit.”
Congress previously cut $20 billion from the modernization efforts at the IRS and unless similar language is eliminated from the next stopgap government funding plan or replaced by legislation that funds the government for the rest of the fiscal year, the same cut could be repeated, essentially reducing the long-term investment of $80 billion by half.
The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday that with the additional reduction, the federal deficit would increase by $140 billion because the IRS would be unable to conduct as many revenue-generating audits of wealthy taxpayers and large corporations. It also predicts that taxpayers in the 2026 filing season would wait 8 times longer for assistance on the telephone because of reduced hiring.
“IRS employees have been hard at work making sure these investments are put to good use and their success has reduced wait times for assistance, expanded in-person help in offices all over the country and recovered $1.3 billion in unpaid tax debts from the ultra-wealthy,” said Greenwald, a former IRS revenue officer. “The Inflation Reduction Act is helping restore and improve IRS operations and the American people deserve to see that progress continue.”
NTEU represents employees in 36 federal agencies and offices.