IRS Scales Back to Absorb Funding Cuts

The Internal Revenue Service has been scaling back its activities and using some of its budgeting flexibility to absorb funding cuts, according to a new government report.  The report, from the Government Accountability Office, pointed out that the IRS’s budget shrunk from $12.1 billion in fiscal year 2010 to $11.3 billion in fiscal year 2014, a reduction of approximately 7 percent. The IRS's budget declined by an additional $346 million from fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2015. The IRS used some of its budgeting flexibility to absorb the budget reductions by allocating user fee revenue, which made up 3.4 percent of its budget, or $416 million, in fiscal year 2014. In addition, to increase agency-wide coordination of budget decisions, the IRS formed a new office and committee to inform budget formulation and execution decisions. To absorb the budget cuts, the IRS’s Human Capital Office, Office of Chief Counsel, and Small Business/Self-Employed Division each reduced their staff by 16 to 30 Read More.