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Washington, D.C.—The head of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) told a key Senate panel today that Congress must increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) because the cash-strapped agency is struggling to fulfill its enforcement and customer-service missions.

Congress has slashed the IRS budget by a total of $1.2 billion over the past five years, which will reduce the IRS workforce by 17,000 by the end of the current fiscal year, NTEU National President Colleen M. Kelley said in a statement submitted to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. The subcommittee conducted a hearing today on the administration’s fiscal year (FY) 2016 budget request for the Treasury Department.

The number of IRS employees assigned to answer taxpayer telephone calls fell from 9,400 in FY 2010 to 6,900 in FY 2014—a 26 percent decline. The number of Revenue Officers and Revenue Agents was down more than 3,600 at the end of FY 2013 compared to 2010 levels, and the IRS says it will lose 1,800 enforcement personnel through attrition by this fiscal year.

“Despite the critical role that the IRS plays in helping taxpayers meet their tax obligations and generating revenue to fund the federal government, the IRS’ ability to continue doing so has been severely challenged due to funding reductions in recent years,” the NTEU leader wrote.

In making the case for increased funding, Kelley wrote: “NTEU believes that only by restoring critical funding for effective enforcement and taxpayer service programs can the IRS provide America's taxpayers with quality service while maximizing revenue collection that is critical to reducing the federal deficit.”

In FY 2014, IRS collected $3.1 trillion in revenue, or about 93 percent of the federal government’s receipts. But the revenue brought in by the agency’s enforcement division has been declining. For instance, IRS enforcement activities brought in $57.1 billion in FY 2014, down more than $2 billion from the $59.2 billion collected in FY 2007, Kelley wrote.

The NTEU president reiterated the union’s support for 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.