A Treasury investigator says tax collections from reluctant taxpayers dropped for the second straight year in 2012.

The Treasury inspector general for tax administration says budget cuts at the Internal Revenue Service are resulting in lower revenues for the federal government. The IG released a report Tuesday that says tax collections from enforcement actions dropped by 9 percent in the 2012 budget year, to a little more than $50 billion.

The report says the IRS has shed about 8,000 jobs since 2010. It comes as congressional Republicans are seeking further cuts in the agency’s budget.

The IRS says other factors were also at play. For example, the IRS says enforcement collections were unusually high in 2010 and 2011 because of a voluntary disclosure program for people hiding money overseas.

(AP)