WASHINGTON — Budget cuts could force the IRS to shut down operations for two days later this year, resulting in unpaid furloughs for employees and service cuts for taxpayers, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Tuesday.

In an email to workers, Koskinen said staff reductions will result in fewer audits and delays in technology upgrades. Koskinen previously announced that some tax refunds could be delayed.

Koskinen says the agency's $10.9 billion budget is the lowest level of funding since 2008. When adjusted for inflation, the budget hasn't been this low since 1998, he said.

“Unfortunately, this means at this time we need to plan for the possibility of a shutdown of IRS operations for two days later this fiscal year, which will involve furloughing employees on those days,” Koskinen said in the email. “Shutting down the IRS will be a last resort, but I want to be upfront with you about the problem.”

Koskinen said the agency will extend a partial hiring freeze through the end of the budget year in September. He said fewer enforcement agents will cost the federal government at least $2 billion in lost tax revenue.

“IRS employees are doing their best to handle the rising demand for their services, but they will simply not be able to keep up,” said Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union. “I have urged the IRS not to make any decisions on furlough days this early in the fiscal year and to work with us to find other alternatives.”

BOSTON — Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked a judge to suspend jury selection in his trial for at least a month because the recent terrorist attacks in France have again placed the marathon bombings “at the center of a grim global drama.”The lawyers said Tuesday a delay would allow some time “for the extraordinary prejudice flowing from these events — and the comparison of those events to those at issue in this case — to diminish.”They said potential jurors have been instructed to avoid media reports about Tsarnaev's case, but were exposed to reports about the French attacks. Jury selection began last week in Boston. More than 1,350 prospective jurors have been called in to federal court to fill out lengthy juror questionnaires. The judge is scheduled to begin questioning individual jurors Thursday.“Almost immediately after the attacks, the press, politicians, and commentators drew parallels between the French attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing,” the lawyers wrote.