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Washington, D.C. --The leader of the union representing employees of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said today "the time is now to move forward on IRS reform legislation," and he criticized as "unnecessary overkill" the four days of Senate Finance Committee hearings on the IRS starting tomorrow.

President Robert M. Tobias of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) noted that the House already has passed by an overwhelming margin of 426 to 4 an IRS reform bill based on recommendations made after a year?long study by the bipartisan National Commission on Restructuring the IRS.

He noted, too, that the Senate Finance Committee, which last September conducted three days of hearings on the IRS, has itself unanimously passed its own version of an IRS reform bill.

The union president said there is widespread agreement, involving the administration, many in Congress, IRS leadership and NTEU that the agency heard the message last fall and is headed in the right direction with its renewed focus on customer service. Tobias long has argued that such a focus is the only way to increase voluntary compliance with the Nation's tax laws.

"Rather than continue to attack this vital agency," he said, "Congress should take note of necessary tools and the appropriate technology to do what they were hired to do?serve America's taxpayers and administer the tax laws as written by Congress."

As evidence of what is possible, Tobias pointed to a recent poll by Louis Harris and Associates showing that much of the public that has dealt directly with the IRS views the agency and its employees in a positive light. Harris said its numbers showed that more than three?quarters of these people said they had been treated fairly by IRS employees, while an even larger number of them?83 percent??said they were treated courteously.

Other support for that position, Tobias said, comes from an independent survey of taxpayers aided in monthly "problem?solving days" conducted around the country by the IRS since last November. The most recent survey in five customer assistance categories, taken after the February problem?solving days, showed a taxpayer rating of 6.67, on a scale in which 7 is the highest possible ranking. February's overall score is up from the January figure of 6.62. "IRS employees are competent professionals who care a great deal about doing a good job and treating people with the respect they deserve," Tobias said. "What they need, and what American taxpayers deserve, is action by the Senate on the IRS reform legislation, not more hearings."