IRS Chief: Staffing Woes To Cost Government Billions

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen sounded a warning bell this week over staffing cuts at the IRS. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, Koskinen said the tax agency has lost more than 13,000 employees between 2010 and 2014.

That leaves just 87,000 staffers to deal with 150 million individual taxpayers - a ratio that will cost the government $2 billion this year in lost revenues, he said.

So far, he added, this tax season has "gone swimmingly." But the staffing shortage puts added pressure on the IRS as it tries to manage the new penalty phase of the Affordable Care Act and a growing number of tax scams.