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Washington, D.C.— Approval by the House of massive cuts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) budget for fiscal 2015 indicate a complete disregard for the needs of taxpayers and the country, said the head of the union representing IRS employees.

“House members are playing politics where principle should prevail,” said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). “It is beyond me how elected officials can so easily ignore the serious impacts on their own constituents of their efforts to starve the IRS.”

The Republican-led House approved H.R. 5016, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act. When that bill was forwarded to the House floor, it called for reducing the IRS budget by $341 million over the current fiscal year level, taking the IRS back to 2008 funding levels. Amendments offered on the House floor stripped another $1.14 billion from the budget. The White House has issued a veto threat.

These proposed funding cuts would be another blow to the ability of a key agency to meet its mission; the IRS has seen its budget shrink by nearly $1 billion in just the past four fiscal years.

That has led directly to the loss of some 10,000 employees, including thousands of frontline workers who interact directly with and provide needed services to the public.

During the past tax-filing season, the impact was visible in multiple ways throughout the country. Millions of phone calls from taxpayers could not be answered; long lines and lengthy waits became the norm at Taxpayer Assistance Centers nationwide; when they could get help, taxpayers found that IRS employees had been limited in the types of assistance they could offer.

Most notably, there was an end to tax return preparation, an action that disproportionately impacts taxpayer populations most in need of it, including non-English speakers, the elderly and low-income individuals and families.

“There is a crisis here,” said President Kelley, “and too many members of Congress are turning their backs and acting like it simply does not matter.”

She added: “They most certainly are wrong. It matters to taxpayers and it matters to every American, because the IRS collects 93 percent of all government revenue. That means that virtually every federal agency is hurt.”

Kelley said NTEU will continue its efforts to secure sufficient IRS funding for fiscal 2015 and beyond, noting that the Senate proposal for the coming fiscal year would result in a 2 percent increase in IRS resources above the fiscal 2014 level.

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