(Archived Content)
View the Treasury Budget-in-Brief here
Makes Key Investments to Strengthen the Economy and Create Jobs, Combat Threats to National Security, and Promote Financial Stability at Home and Abroad
Boosts Resources for Taxpayer Services, Enforcement Measures to Pursue Tax Evaders, and Identifies $154 Million in FY 2015 Savings
“The President’s Budget shows that we are committed to making investments that grow our economy and create opportunity for all Americans, while remaining on a path of balanced long-term deficit reduction. Treasury will continue to promote the conditions that enable growth and stability at home and abroad, protect the integrity of the financial system, and responsibly manage the government’s finances for all taxpayers.” – Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced key components of its Fiscal Year 2015 Budget that will help support President Obama’s comprehensive efforts to promote economic growth and create opportunity for all Americans.
Strengthening the Economy and Job Creation, Protecting the Financial System
The Treasury Budget request makes key investments that will help spur economic growth and job creation, while boosting confidence in the safety and soundness of the U.S. financial system.
To continue our support for state economic development agencies’ work to boost lending to small businesses, the Budget proposes a new investment of $1.5 billion for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).
The FY 2015 Budget also provides $225 million for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, which promotes economic development investments in low-income communities. The Budget proposes a one-year extension of the CDFI Bond Guarantee program, which provides a source of long-term capital to financial institutions that support lending in underserved communities. Of the total request, $35 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative will support the growth of businesses that improve the availability of affordable, healthy food options in low-income communities.
The Budget proposes an increase of $11 million for investments in enhancing Treasury’s cyber-preparedness and the security of Treasury's financial and intelligence data, as Treasury seeks to improve the protection and resilience of the financial sector from cyber and physical attacks.
The Budget also proposes to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program and to implement cost-effective programmatic reforms to limit taxpayer exposure. The extension will preserve the long-term availability and affordability of property and casualty insurance for terrorism risk.
The President’s Budget includes a separate Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative, with pro-growth investments which are fully paid for with a balanced package of spending cuts and tax loophole closers. The proposal demonstrates that additional pro-growth investments are easily affordable without increasing the deficit, if Congress enacts common-sense spending and tax reforms.
Boosting Resources for Taxpayer Services and Enforcement Measures, Finding New Efficiencies across Treasury’s Programs
After years of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) budget cuts, which harm taxpayers, result in higher levels of tax evasion, and degrade customer service, Treasury’s request includes substantial investments to help strengthen taxpayer service, enforcement, and technology at the IRS.
Increased resources for IRS enforcement and compliance programs yield direct, measurable results through high return on investment (ROI) activities. The FY 2015 Budget request includes a Program Integrity Cap Adjustment of $480 million, which is projected to generate nearly $2.1 billion in additional annual enforcement revenue once fully implemented in FY 2017. This multi-year effort is expected to reduce budget deficits by $35 billion over the next 10 years. In addition, these enforcement resources are expected to generate an ROI of nearly $6 for every $1 spent.
Additionally, this budget request includes $2.3 billion for taxpayer service, supporting initiatives designed to improve the IRS’ ability to provide timely and accurate responses to taxpayer inquiries, as well as make more information accessible in a secure digital environment. Treasury’s request also includes $452 million for initiatives that are critical to full and effective IRS implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which the Congressional Budget Office has projected will lower the deficit substantially over the next two decades.
Overall, as a result of Treasury’s ongoing efforts to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and streamline operations, the Department has been able to propose over $1.1 billion in savings in its budget submissions over the past four years. For example, the IRS implemented administrative cost savings by limiting employee travel and training to mission-critical projects.
Treasury’s FY 2015 request includes efficiency savings and program reductions of $154 million. Treasury’s bureaus have found savings from the Paperless Treasury initiative at the Fiscal Service, e-filing savings at the IRS, and administrative efficiencies across multiple bureaus.
Protecting our National Security Interests, Promoting International Financial Stability
The FY 2015 Budget requests $2.6 billion for Treasury’s International Programs, which provide a cost-effective way to promote our national security, support the next generation of export markets, and address critical global challenges like climate change and regional instability, while fostering private sector development and entrepreneurship.
To promote greater international financial stability, the FY 2015 request proposes authorization and appropriations language to implement the 2010 International Monetary Fund (IMF) quota and governance reforms designed to enhance IMF effectiveness. The reforms represent no net change in the overall U.S. financial commitment to the IMF, while preserving U.S. leadership in the IMF. Implementation of the IMF reforms as soon as possible is a national security and economic policy priority for the United States.
The request for Treasury’s international programs includes $2.1 billion to meet our previously negotiated commitments at the multilateral development banks (MDBs), while the Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative includes $80 million for a contribution to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), the multilateral component of the President’s “Feed the Future” initiative. GAFSP provides merit-based financing to produce high impact, sustainable results, focused on smallholder farmers in poor communities.
Finally, the Budget provides $105.9 million, an increase of $3.9 million from FY 2014, to support the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), which oversees and marshals Treasury’s policy, regulatory, intelligence, and enforcement functions that promote financial integrity, enhance financial transparency, and help support key national security objectives. This budget request supports the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s sanctions programs, including our ongoing efforts directed against Iran’s nuclear program, its support of international terrorism, and its abuse of human rights.
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