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Washington, D.C. — It is 7:15 a.m. when David Carrone, an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revenue agent in New Orleans, arrives at work. Already, taxpayers are lined up in the hallway at the IRS building, waiting for the Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) to open. With TAC staffing at its lowest levels in recent years due to budget cuts and more taxpayers seeking assistance, IRS customer service employees are struggling this tax season to provide quality service.

“Over a period of just eight years, we have seen our staffing levels at TACs cut in half,” said Carrone, who is also president of National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) Chapter 6 (IRS Louisiana). “This is impacting one of our most important functions, which is customer service. We aim to give the right information in the beginning so it doesn’t become a problem later down the road.”

Yet, IRS employees are fighting an uphill battle to provide taxpayer assistance with reduced staffing levels while facing an increase in the number and complexity of tax returns.

To put the situation in perspective, IRS had a staff of 114,018 in 1995 to process 205 million returns. In 2012, staff has reduced to 90,907, down by almost 25,000, while handling nearly 236 million tax returns, an increase of over 30 million returns. As a result, the IRS is dealing with a spike in budget cut-related consequences, such as long waiting lines at TACs. In recent testimony, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said IRS this tax-filing season has 5,000 fewer employees across the IRS than last year.

“Fewer resources mean fewer employees, and that leads to problems for the tens of millions of taxpayers who depend on the tax information services provided by the IRS,” NTEU National President Colleen M. Kelley said. “Accessible tax information and services are a vital component of our voluntary compliance system. Skeleton staffing at many TACs leaves taxpayers waiting for hours for assistance, or even worse, unable to get the help they need.”

As a result of the economic downturn, more taxpayers are seeking the free tax assistance services provided by the IRS. Taxpayers who use TACs the most often are low-income taxpayers, those with language barriers, and the elderly, who may not be comfortable online.

“Lines are excessive because of our economic situation. They may be out of work, or whatever the case may be, and we are seeing more people reaching out to the IRS to help them with their tax issues,” NTEU Chapter 10 (IRS Chicago) President Charles Turek said. “But we don’t have the staffing to help all of them properly and efficiently.”

Budget cuts and a hiring freeze are constraining IRS’ ability to maintain staffing levels, such as replacing retirees, which is necessary to support an increase in workload.

“We aren’t seeing IRS hiring new staff to replace employees who have retired,” said Turek. “Taxpayers are getting frustrated with having to wait in long lines just to enter the building, only to see empty work stations once they get inside.”

As NTEU continues to receive reports about budget cut-related consequences that are affecting IRS services, NTEU is actively urging lawmakers to support increased IRS funding that is needed for the agency to provide the crucial services that taxpayers need.

NTEU supports recent proposals for IRS FY 2013 budget made by the White House and the IRS Oversight Board, which both call for increased funding, and urges lawmakers to understand that unless the necessary adequate investments are made in the IRS, taxpayers will see noticeable degradation in the services they need.

NTEU is making a strong case to Congress for increased funding. NTEU submitted testimony for two separate congressional hearings on the need for more adequate funding for the IRS. Today, the Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the 2012 filing season.

In his opening statement, Rep. John Lewis, (D-Ga.) argued for increased IRS funding, noting that taxpayers have been harmed by recent budget cuts as evidenced by long lines at the TACs.

Budget cuts are putting pressure on agency managers and other supervisors to take time away from their managerial duties in order to back up the TACs. In several cases as reported to NTEU, managers have had to temporarily leave their duties to step in and pick up work at the reception desk or other clerical posts at the centers.

“There is a serious lack of clerical support at three out of four TACs in Colorado,” Chapter 32 President Mary Wright (IRS Colorado) said. “Revenue officers as well as managers are being pulled away from their duties to do administrative work.” Revenue Officers spend much of their time in the field, rather than offices.

So many taxpayers are seeking help, officials have had to close the lobby of the IRS office in Colorado Springs when it is filled to capacity in the late mornings. And, some days, there are not enough resources at the Denver, Grand Junction and Fort Collins locations to serve everyone who comes, Wright said.

“The short staffing causes real problems in TACs with only one or two workers, especially when an employee becomes ill,” Carrone said. “We’ve had a manager leave his post and drive two hours across the state to help with the reception workload.”

In the state of Louisiana, the workload at its TACs has especially been heavy as casino employees are coming in to obtain an up-to-date tax clearance, which is required before they can begin work, Carrone said.

TACs provide free face-to-face services for taxpayers who need assistance with a tax issue. Some of the services offered are:

• Help with understanding a notice or letter from the IRS

• Help with obtaining and understanding tax forms

• Multilingual assistance

• Making payments

• Help with obtaining copy of tax returns

• Help with obtaining taxpayer identification number

• Tax preparation assistance

New York City-area TACs are also experiencing difficulty in helping all taxpayers who are seeking face-to-face assistance. The Bronx and Harlem locations have some of the longest lines in the city, according to Chapter 47 (IRS Manhattan) President Frank Heffler. Bronx, in particular, had a fifty percent reduction in staff since four years ago, and no new hires have been made since.

There are cases in New York where managers, according to Heffler, have to work at the reception desk to direct people where to sit and wait in line.

“A senior employee from White Plains, which is already short on staff, had to move to Harlem to serve as acting manager, because they hadn’t been able to replace a retiree,” Heffler said. “The agency is also soliciting other IRS employees from enforcement to help out -- that hasn’t happened in years. That shows how bad it is.”

Long wait lines are also reported from TAC locations in Plantation and Tampa, Fla., and in all three TACs of the San Diego area: Downtown San Diego, San Marcos and El Centro.

There are 398 TACs across the U.S; currently, there are more than 100 TACs with only one or two staff members. As of March 3, 1.16 million taxpayers have been served at the TACs, according to the IRS.

NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.