IRS
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IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government that budget and staffing reductions are impacting the agency's core missions of customer service and tax collection. The agency projects it will only be able to answer 61 percent of phone calls this year, meaning some 20 million phone calls will go unanswered. Meanwhile, taxpayers attempting to reach IRS offices are facing wait times that stretch past 20 minutes.
February 27, 2014 -
John Koskinen, sworn in as IRS commissioner in late December, has been meeting with frontline employees and crunching numbers for the last several weeks. He told Congress Wednesday that every corner of the agency is underfunded, and as a direct result, the Treasury is collecting fewer dollars than it should.
February 06, 2014 -
The Internal Revenue Service and the National Treasury Employees Union reached an agreement that will see the IRS pay frontline employees performance awards starting in the spring. Acting IRS chief Danny Werfel canceled payouts of the awards last July, even though the union said the agency was obligated to pay them.
February 03, 2014 -
The head of the Internal Revenue Service said the agency isn't planning any employee furloughs this year, even though Congress decided not to restore funding to the agency that had been lost due to the across-the-board sequestration cuts. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said the budget crunch, though, would mean taxpayers will see a decline in services.
January 31, 2014 -
Danny Werfel has resigned from his position of controller of the Office of Management Budget and left the federal government. He had served as controller since October 2009.
January 27, 2014 -
After a month of negotiations, the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees unveiled a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill this week funding the government for the remainder of fiscal 2014. From federal pay and benefits to a further decline in the Internal Revenue Service's budget, read about three key takeaways of the bill.
January 14, 2014 -
In an annual report to Congress, the National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson, wrote that the IRS faces "unstable and chronic underfunding that puts at risk the IRS's ability to meet its current responsibilities, much less articulate and achieve the necessary transformation to an effective, modern tax agency."
January 10, 2014 -
Increased oversight and tighter controls have led to a nearly 90 percent drop in conference spending since 2010 at four agencies. The reductions could amount to $500 million in annual savings across the government.
January 08, 2014 -
Todd Grams, the chief of staff of the Internal Revenue Service, announced Friday he's retiring after 34 years of federal service, according to a note to staff obtained by Federal News Radio. Grams was named IRS chief of staff in June at the request of Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel in the wake of a leadership shakeup following revelations the agency had improperly targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny.
December 20, 2013 -
John Koskinen, President Barack Obama's pick to lead the embattled Internal Revenue Service, pledged to restore public trust in the agency following the recent uproar over revelations of purported political bias by IRS employees. Speaking before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday morning, Koskinen also said he'd work to turn around the declining employee morale.
December 10, 2013 -
The Postal Service will kick off its pilot to provide identity management services in the cloud in early 2014. The IRS and DHS also are pursuing complimentary initiatives to authorize and authenticate users.
November 15, 2013 -
Peggy Sherry will become the deputy commissioner for operations support at the IRS as of Nov. 4. She is the fourth executive to come to the IRS since the service's scandal broke earlier this summer.
October 23, 2013 -
Lower chamber legislators could not get two-thirds approval for one bill to fund the National Park Service, and another bill to get the Veterans Affairs Department fiscal 2014 money. AFGE, NTEU and Democrat lawmakers rallied on Capitol Hill Tuesday to turn up the heat on Congress to reopen the government.
October 02, 2013 -
With the end of fiscal 2013 just over a month away, many agencies are wrapping up their furlough days. Some agencies have even reduced the number of unpaid leave days they originally thought they would need. This graphic depicts the total number of furlough days originally declared by agencies versus the number of furloughs actually taken.
August 23, 2013 -
Politicians keep pushing key federal agencies — the ones that most touch the public — to do more with less. But there are times when it appears politicians don't care if feds do less with less, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
August 15, 2013