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Washington, D.C.—The proposed funding increase for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contained in the administration’s fiscal 2015 budget is a small first step in reversing serious budget cuts at the agency that collects the vast majority of the government’s revenue, the leader of the union representing IRS employees said today.

“We need to invest in the IRS and begin to return it to a stable fiscal footing,” said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). “This budget proposal is a modest step in that direction and I urge Congress to provide the IRS with the resources necessary to accomplish its mission.”

The administration proposal would provide additional funds so the IRS to improve customer service to meet the rising taxpayer demand and help taxpayers correctly file their returns and pay taxes in a timely manner.

Taxpayers have been ill-served by cuts totaling nearly $1 billion in the IRS budget since 2010, including $600 million forced by sequestration, leading to the loss of some 10,000 employees. As a result, wait times for help on the telephone and at Taxpayer Assistance Centers have skyrocketed even as more and more taxpayers have questions resulting from an increasingly complex tax code.

The White House budget blueprint focuses on increasing the telephone level of service from the current 60 percent to 80 percent.

“Our tax code is big and confusing for many taxpayers who simply want to meet their tax obligations, and they should be able to get the help they need. It is time to rebuild this critical agency so IRS employees can assist taxpayers rather than turn them away,” said President Kelley.

“We believe this request will help begin to restore funding slashed in recent years for critical taxpayer services and enforcement activities,” she added, emphasizing that as the budget process moves forward, NTEU will work to highlight the adverse impacts recent budget cuts have had on the agency and on taxpayers.

“Funding the IRS adequately and particularly doing so over the long term, is a wise investment in our country,” Kelley said. “That is the way to assist taxpayers with the help they need, deter identity theft and refund fraud, close the gap between taxes owed and those paid, ensure offshore compliance and provide the funds the federal government needs to best serve the American people.”

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.