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Washington, D.C.—The head of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) offered strong support for President Obama’s proposed fiscal 2014 budget for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), saying it would restore vital resources cut in recent years.

The proposal would provide the agency with resources of $12.8 billion in the next fiscal year, an increase of more than $1.6 billion over the current year.

“NTEU strongly supports the president’s fiscal 2014 request for the IRS, which would help restore funding slashed in recent years for critical taxpayer service and compliance activities,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley.

The agency has been under a hiring freeze for the past several years, and is working this tax-filing season with some 3,800 fewer employees than just one year ago. The president’s budget would alleviate some of the understaffing pressure allowing the IRS to increase personnel by 6,000 employees.

Importantly, the administration’s fiscal 2014 proposal would provide an increase of more than $172 million for taxpayer services, a critical element in helping taxpayers understand their obligations and pay taxes due in a timely manner, Kelley said.

She noted that inadequate funding in recent years has led to pressure on both the agency’s customer service and enforcement efforts. In particular, taxpayer service as reflected in the ability of IRS employees to answer incoming telephone calls and provide in-person help at Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the country has been undercut.

IRS resource problems resonate through our society, President Kelley said, adversely impacting educational efforts for small business; and hurting non-English speaking and low-income taxpayers; those anticipating a prompt refund; and many others—including victims of identity theft.

This week, the NTEU leader provided Senate testimony on the impact of budget cuts and sequestration on the IRS and the public. In it, she noted figures from the IRS indicating they have some 650,000 active identity theft cases dealing with the fast-growing crime of seeking a fraudulent tax refund. Despite the serious issues facing the IRS, its employees face between 5 and 7 unpaid furlough days through the end of this fiscal year as a result of sequestration.

“Funding the IRS is an investment in America, and not a cost. Increasing IRS funding, as the president is proposing, is an important step in that direction, and we will be working in Congress to ensure the IRS is provided with the resources necessary to accomplish its mission,” Kelley said.

While supporting the higher funding levels for the IRS, President

Kelley spoke out against other aspects of the budget proposal including significant increases in federal employee retirement contributions with no increase in annuity; an inadequate pay increase for federal workers of only 1 percent in 2014; an end for new hires of the supplement payable under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS); and moving to a chained Consumer Price Index as the method for measuring inflation and determining increases to Social Security and retirement cost-of-living payments.

“All these proposals target the federal workforce and this must end,” said President Kelley. “To move our country forward we need to value the contribution of federal employees and stop treating them as an easy source of revenue to patch other economic holes.”

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