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Washington D.C. - The 10-year, $80 billion investment in the IRS, approved today by the Senate, will rebuild the agency with the tools and tax professionals it needs to reduce the deficit by collecting revenue that is rightfully owed, ensuring full compliance with tax laws and providing world-class customer service to American taxpayers.

NTEU, which represents about 70,000 frontline IRS employees in 600 worksites across the country, strongly supports the new investment contained in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which now goes to the House for final approval.

"The public servants of the IRS, who suffered through a decade of budget cuts, deserve this chance to dig out from behind backlogs, modernize their outdated computer systems and enforce the tax code fully and fairly for all," NTEU National President Tony Reardon said. "The brilliance of this whole plan is that it makes available this new funding over 10 years to allow the IRS to thoughtfully restore its workforce and strategically target its improvements, year after year."

Overall funding for the IRS decreased by almost 20 percent on an inflation-adjusted basis since fiscal year 2010. The result is 15,000 fewer employees, plummeting enforcement and customer service rates and a crisis of morale among IRS employees who don't have the resources to adequately deliver on their mission.

The administration has estimated the IRS needs to hire about 86,000 new employees over time, at least 50,000 of whom would replace those who are expected to retire or leave the agency in the next six years.

"This funding is about American taxpayers - individuals and businesses - getting the service they deserve and having confidence that everyone, regardless of income level, is being held accountable for what they owe under existing tax laws," Reardon said.

According to the IRS Data Book, the agency lost more than 8,600 customer service representatives from 2010 to 2020, causing too many taxpayer phone calls to go unanswered. And there are half as many revenue officers and 35 percent fewer revenue agents than 10 years ago, which has left billions of dollars uncollected.

NTEU represents about 150,000 employees in 34 federal agencies and offices.

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