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Every year, the taxes Americans pay fund critical aspects of our country ranging from infrastructure and education, to supporting our military, to programs that benefit retirees and children. In fact, 95 percent of the country’s gross receipts flow through the IRS – totaling about $3.5 trillion last year.
And every year, it’s the IRS employees in every state across this country who make it all work. They not only collect taxes, but they educate taxpayers, answer questions and work one-on-one with people who need extra help paying their fair share. They make sure everyone is treated with respect. And they do it all while dealing with a significantly depleted workforce, sharply rising workloads and millions in budget cuts. These cuts have left many employees wishing they could help even more taxpayers if only the agency was given the resources it so badly needs.
This year added new challenges. Employees faced the biggest tax law changes since 1986, not to mention starting the tax season in the middle of the 35-day government shutdown.
Through it all, IRS employees have been working long hours to make sure this year’s tax season is seamless for Americans. In January, the IRS IT systems accepted a record-setting 1.9 million tax returns in a single hour –that’s 536 tax returns a second. By Monday’s filing deadline, more than 130 million tax returns will have been filed, and more than $250 billion in refunds will have been processed. At the same time IRS employees will be working to help protect against tax-related identity theft.
NTEU salutes all these IRS employees who, no matter the challenges, work diligently for America on Tax Day and year-round. We will continue to fight on Capitol Hill for the staffing and resources IRS employees need to perform their work on behalf of all Americans.