“These figures should shock the conscience of Congress,” NTEU President Colleen Kelley said at a news conference to draw attention to the budget cuts’ effect on customer service this tax season.
Congress has reduced the IRS budget by a total of $1.2 billion since 2010. The cuts have come as the agency battles a growing epidemic of identity theft and new responsibilities created by the Affordable Care Act. The volume of calls to the toll-free number are on the rise, along with the number of Americans filing tax returns.
The agency has lost 18,138 full-time and seasonal employees during this period; A quarter of the workforce is now eligible to retire and by 2019 the number will hit 40 percent, Commissioner John Koskinen said last week.
Below are some state-by-state statistics that tell the story of an agency going through downsizing imposed by Congress that its union officials and senior leaders say is taking a big toll on the public.
Five states with the biggest percentage declines in their IRS workforces (2011-2015):
Montana: 33 percent
Hawaii: 31.8 percent
Wyoming: 30.8 percent
Nebraska: 30.7 percent
Mississippi: 30.4 percent
Five states with the biggest numerical declines in their IRS workforces (2011-2015):
California: 3,039
Georgia: 1,865
Texas: 1,363
Missouri: 1,274
New York: 1,165
IRS Employee Count by State, 2011-2015
The following chart reflects total IRS employees, both full and part-time, at locations across the United States.
|
STATE |
TOTALS |
||||
|
2011 |
2013 |
2015 (as of Feb. 7) |
Numerical decline from 2011 to 2015 |
Percentage decline from 2011 to 2015 |
|
|
AL |
411 |
340 |
302 |
109 |
26.5% |
|
AK |
87 |
73 |
62 |
25 |
28.7% |
|
AZ |
730 |
637 |
553 |
177 |
24.2% |
|
AR |
243 |
213 |
176 |
67 |
27.6% |
|
CA |
14,287 |
12,696 |
11,248 |
3039 |
21.3% |
|
CO |
1,274 |
1,119 |
972 |
302 |
23.7% |
|
CT |
564 |
488 |
441 |
123 |
21.8% |
|
DE |
133 |
101 |
94 |
39 |
29.3% |
|
DC |
3,512 |
3,197 |
2,999 |
513 |
14.6% |
|
FL |
3,517 |
3,238 |
2,975 |
542 |
15.4% |
|
GA |
6,376 |
4,792 |
4,511 |
1865 |
29.3% |
|
HI |
154 |
121 |
105 |
49 |
31.8% |
|
ID |
125 |
112 |
90 |
35 |
28.0% |
|
IL |
2,319 |
2,003 |
1,701 |
618 |
26.6% |
|
IN |
922 |
858 |
722 |
200 |
21.7% |
|
IA |
341 |
265 |
253 |
88 |
25.8% |
|
KS |
213 |
177 |
168 |
45 |
21.1% |
|
KY |
5,437 |
4,918 |
4,724 |
713 |
13.1% |
|
LA |
456 |
386 |
355 |
101 |
22.1% |
|
ME |
123 |
101 |
93 |
30 |
24.4% |
|
MD |
5,064 |
4,940 |
4,833 |
231 |
4.6% |
|
MA |
3,371 |
3,139 |
2,900 |
471 |
14.0% |
|
MI |
1,997 |
1,751 |
1,559 |
438 |
21.9% |
|
MN |
663 |
593 |
517 |
146 |
22.0% |
|
MS |
230 |
181 |
160 |
70 |
30.4% |
|
MO |
7,290 |
6,717 |
6,016 |
1274 |
17.5% |
|
MT |
97 |
76 |
65 |
32 |
33.0% |
|
NE |
205 |
166 |
142 |
63 |
30.7% |
|
NV |
404 |
352 |
297 |
107 |
26.5% |
|
NH |
182 |
168 |
161 |
21 |
11.5% |
|
NJ |
1,248 |
1,092 |
980 |
268 |
21.5% |
|
NM |
164 |
130 |
119 |
45 |
27.4% |
|
NY |
7,934 |
7,178 |
6,769 |
1165 |
14.7% |
|
NC |
851 |
753 |
696 |
155 |
18.2% |
|
ND |
82 |
68 |
64 |
18 |
22.0% |
|
OH |
2,222 |
1,983 |
1,824 |
398 |
17.9% |
|
OK |
483 |
417 |
363 |
120 |
24.8% |
|
OR |
756 |
716 |
628 |
128 |
16.9% |
|
PA |
6,486 |
6,105 |
5,637 |
849 |
13.1% |
|
RI |
132 |
123 |
117 |
15 |
11.4% |
|
SC |
288 |
237 |
219 |
69 |
24.0% |
|
SD |
76 |
63 |
55 |
21 |
27.6% |
|
TN |
3,994 |
3,888 |
3,740 |
254 |
6.4% |
|
TX |
10,966 |
10,214 |
9,603 |
1363 |
12.4% |
|
UT |
6,648 |
6,023 |
5,725 |
923 |
13.9% |
|
VT |
76 |
67 |
62 |
14 |
18.4% |
|
VA |
1,203 |
1,107 |
1,033 |
170 |
14.1% |
|
WA |
1,470 |
1,323 |
1,198 |
272 |
18.5% |
|
WV |
1,342 |
1,291 |
1,199 |
143 |
10.7% |
|
WI |
495 |
416 |
371 |
124 |
25.1% |
|
WY |
52 |
45 |
36 |
16 |
30.8% |
|
PR |
718 |
709 |
659 |
59 |
8.2% |
|
Other* |
47 |
32 |
31 |
16 |
34.0% |
|
US TOTAL |
108,460 |
97,898 |
90,322 |
18138 |
16.7% |
| *: IRS offices in U.S. possessions (excluding PR) and foreign countries | |||||
(Source: Internal Revenue Service, released by NTEU)