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Washington, D.C.—As millions of people rush to beat today’s tax-filing deadline, the head of the federal union that represents rank-and-file Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees reminded Congress that taxpayers are bearing the brunt of chronic IRS underfunding.

Colleen M. Kelley, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), once again urged Congress to increase funding for the IRS to allow the agency to hire more people and improve taxpayer services.

“The IRS’ ability to provide excellent taxpayer service has been severely challenged due to reduced funding in recent years and the cuts mandated by sequestration,” Kelley said in a statement submitted to the Government Operations Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which held a hearing on Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson’s report to Congress.

Since fiscal year (FY) 2010, Congress has slashed the IRS budget by a total of $1.2 billion, or 17 percent when adjusted for inflation. The agency instituted a hiring freeze to cope with the cuts. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen acknowledged recently that his short-staffed agency has provided an “abysmal” level of taxpayer services but cannot do better unless Congress provides an adequate level of funding.

The IRS estimates it will be able to answer less than 50 percent of taxpayer calls in FY 2015—down from 87 percent in FY 2004, the NTEU leader said in her statement. The number of IRS employees assigned to answer taxpayer calls fell from 9,400 in 2010 to 6,900 last year, a 26 percent decline. Taxpayers who managed to get through faced average hold times of 30 minutes, up from 2.6 minutes in FY 2004.

Taxpayer Advocate Olson’s warnings about poor staffing at Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) also proved true, Kelley wrote. NTEU members at TACs nationwide reported longer lines and lengthier wait times this year than ever before.

“Without additional resources, further degradation in taxpayer services will occur, jeopardizing our voluntary compliance system,” President Kelley stated.

Inadequate staffing is also affecting the IRS’ ability to collect revenue by cutting into the agency’s enforcement staff, the NTEU leader wrote. The IRS, which collects 93 percent of the federal government’s revenue, has experienced a steady decline in enforcement revenue since FY 2007. IRS enforcement activities brought in $53.3 billion in FY 2013, down almost $6 billion compared to FY 2007.

The IRS expects to lose an additional 1,800 enforcement personnel in FY 2015, which means tens of thousands of audits and Field Collection cases will remain unresolved.

The $345 million cut in the agency’s overall budget for FY 2015 “will further reduce IRS’ ability to collect revenue and would result in the loss of billions in revenue,” Kelley wrote. “That lost revenue could otherwise be invested in critical government programs or be used to reduce the federal deficit.”

NTEU supports the administration’s $12.9 billion FY 2016 request for the IRS, an increase of more than $1.9 billion from the current level.

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