IRS’s strategic plan does not address managing budget uncertainty although there are several indicators that funding will be constrained for the foreseeable future, GAO has said in calling for a long-term strategy.
Since fiscal 2010, the IRS budget has declined by about $900 million, while staffing has declined by about 10,000 full-time employees, according to GAO-14-605.
It said performance has been uneven over that time. For example, from fiscal 2009 to 2013, the percentage of callers seeking live assistance and receiving it fluctuated between 61 percent and 74 percent.
OMB guidance requires agencies to develop strategies for operating in an uncertain budget environment, but according to agency officials, extensive senior leadership turnover has contributed to the lack of a long-term strategy.
The White House has requesteda 10.5 percent increase over the fiscal 2014 budget for the agency, but it remains unclear whether Congress will go for it. Many lawmakers would like to see the agency kept in check, not emboldened. However, the National Taxpayer Advocate and others havesent the message that spending on enforcement has a high return-on-investment, and with cash in short supply a budget increase to raise revenue through enforcement rather than tax increases remains possible.
The agency agreed with recommendations to develop a long-term strategy to manage uncertain budgets, as well as to calculate actual return-on-investment (not just projected) for implemented initiatives, compare actual ROI to projected ROI, and use the data to inform resource decisions.
