Commissioner of Internal Revenue

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),[1] an agency within the United States Department of the Treasury.[2]

Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Logo of the IRS
Incumbent
Charles P. Rettig
since October 1, 2018
United States Internal Revenue Service
StyleCommissioner
Reports toSecretary of the Treasury
SeatInternal Revenue Service Building
1111 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, D.C.
AppointerThe President
with Senate advise and consent
Term length5 years
Constituting instrument26 U.S.C. § 7803
Formation1862
First holderGeorge S. Boutwell
Websitewww.irs.gov

The office of Commissioner was created by Congress by the Revenue Act of 1862.[3] Section 7803 of the Internal Revenue Code[4] provides for the appointment of a Commissioner of Internal Revenue to administer and supervise the execution and application of the internal revenue laws. The Commissioner is appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate, for a five-year term.[5]

The current commissioner is Charles P. Rettig.

Responsibilities

The Commissioner's duties include administering, managing, conducting, directing, and supervising "the execution and application of the internal revenue laws or related statutes and tax conventions to which the United States is a party" and advising the President on the appointment and removal of a Chief Counsel of the IRS. Treasury Order 150-10 states in relevant part: "The Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Internal Revenue laws."[6] The Commissioner reports to the Secretary of the Treasury through the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.[7]

One of the Commissioner's most important responsibilities with respect to the internal revenue laws involves prescribing Treasury Regulations administered by the IRS. The U.S. Treasury Regulations provide (in part):

(a) Issuance. --The Commissioner, with the approval of the United States Secretary of the Treasury, or his delegate, shall prescribe all needful rules and all rules and regulations as may be necessary by reason of any alteration of law in relation to internal revenue.[8]

However, the General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury has "the authority to approve all regulations pertaining to the internal revenue laws, including the authority to ratify and approve, where necessary, any such regulations previously issued."[9]

By law, the Commissioner is also part of the "federal law enforcement community."

Current and past commissioners

The following lists Commissioners of Internal Revenue, in chronological order:[10]

NameTook OfficeLeft Office
George S. BoutwellJul 17, 1862Mar 4, 1863
Joseph J. Lewis (Acting)Mar 5, 1863Mar 17, 1863
Joseph J. LewisMar 18, 1863Jun 30, 1865
William OrtonJul 1, 1865Oct 31, 1865
Edward A. RollinsNov 1, 1865Mar 10, 1869
Columbus DelanoMar 11, 1869Oct 31, 1870
John W. Douglass (Acting)Nov 1, 1870Jan 2, 1871
Alfred PleasontonJan 3, 1871Aug 8, 1871
John W. DouglassAug 9, 1871May 14, 1875
Daniel D. PrattMay 15, 1875Aug 1, 1876
Green B. RaumAug 2, 1876Apr 30, 1883
Henry C. Rogers (Acting)May 1, 1883May 10, 1883
John Jay Knox (Acting)May 11, 1883May 20, 1883
Walter EvansMay 21, 1883Mar 19, 1885
Joseph S. MillerMar 20, 1885Mar 20, 1889
John W. MasonMar 21, 1889Apr 18, 1893
Joseph S. MillerApr 19, 1893Nov 26, 1896
William St. John FormanNov 27, 1896Dec 31, 1897
Nathan B. ScottJan 1, 1898Feb 28, 1899
George W. WilsonMar 1, 1899Nov 27, 1900
Robert Williams Jr. (Acting)Nov 28, 1900Dec 19, 1900
John W. YerkesDec 20, 1900Apr 30, 1907
Henry C. Rogers (Acting)May 1, 1907Jun 4, 1907
John G. CapersJun 5, 1907Aug 31, 1909
Royal E. CabellSep 1, 1909Apr 27, 1913
William H. OsbornApr 28, 1913Sep 25, 1917
Daniel Calhoun RoperSep 26, 1917Mar 31, 1920
William M. WilliamsApr 1, 1920Apr 11, 1921
Millard F. West (Acting)Apr 12, 1921May 26, 1921
David H. BlairMay 27, 1921May 31, 1929
Robert H. LucasJun 1, 1929Aug 15, 1930
H. F. Mires (Acting)Aug 16, 1930Aug 19, 1930
David BurnetAug 20, 1930May 15, 1933
Pressly R. Baldridge (Acting)May 16, 1933Jun 5, 1933
Guy T. HelveringJun 6, 1933Oct 8, 1943
Robert E. HanneganOct 9, 1943Jan 22, 1944
Harold N. Graves (Acting)Jan 23, 1944Feb 29, 1944
Joseph D. Nunan Jr.Mar 1, 1944Jun 30, 1947
George J. SchoenemanJul 1, 1947Jul 31, 1951
John B. DunlapAug 1, 1951Nov 18, 1952
John Stephens GrahamNov 19, 1952Jan 19, 1953
Justin F. Winkle (Acting)Jan 20, 1953Feb 3, 1953
T. Coleman AndrewsFeb 4, 1953Oct 31, 1955
O. Gordon Delk (Acting)Nov 1, 1955Dec 4, 1955
Russell C. HarringtonDec 5, 1955Sep 30, 1958
O. Gordon Delk (Acting)Oct 1, 1958Nov 4, 1958
Dana LathamNov 5, 1958Jan 20, 1961
Charles I. Fox (Acting)Jan 21, 1961Feb 6, 1961
Mortimer CaplinFeb 7, 1961Jul 10, 1964
Bernard M. Harding (Acting)Jul 11, 1964Jan 24, 1965
Sheldon S. CohenJan 25, 1965Jan 20, 1969
William H. Smith (Acting)Jan 21, 1969Mar 31, 1969
Randolph W. ThrowerApr 1, 1969Jun 22, 1971
Harold T. Swartz (Acting)Jun 23, 1971Aug 5, 1971
Johnnie Mac WaltersAug 6, 1971Apr 30, 1973
Raymond F. Harless (Acting)May 1, 1973May 25, 1973
Donald C. AlexanderMay 25, 1973Feb 26, 1977
William E. Williams (Acting)Feb 27, 1977May 4, 1977
Jerome KurtzMay 5, 1977Oct 31, 1980
William E. Williams (Acting)Dec 1, 1980Mar 13, 1981
Roscoe L. Egger Jr.Mar 14, 1981Apr 30, 1986
James I. Owens (Acting)May 1, 1986Aug 3, 1986
Lawrence B. GibbsAug 4, 1986Mar 4, 1989
Michael J. Murphy (Acting)Mar 5, 1989Jul 4, 1989
Fred T. Goldberg, Jr.Jul 5, 1989Feb 2, 1992
Shirley D. PetersonFeb 3, 1992Jan 20, 1993
Michael P. Dolan (Acting)Jan 21, 1993May 26, 1993
Margaret Milner RichardsonMay 27, 1993May 31, 1997
Michael P. Dolan (Acting)Jun 1, 1997Nov 12, 1997
Charles O. RossottiNov 13, 1997Nov 6, 2002
Bob Wenzel (Acting)Nov 7, 2002Apr 30, 2003
Mark W. EversonMay 1, 2003May 4, 2007
Kevin M. Brown (Acting)May 5, 2007Sep 9, 2007
Linda E. Stiff[11][12](Acting)Sep 10, 2007Mar 24, 2008
Douglas H. ShulmanMar 24, 2008Nov 9, 2012
Steven T. Miller (Acting)Nov 10, 2012May 22, 2013
Daniel Werfel (Acting)May 22, 2013[13]December 23, 2013
John KoskinenDecember 23, 2013November 9, 2017
David Kautter (Acting)November 13, 2017October 1, 2018
Charles P. RettigOctober 1, 2018
gollark: Indeed.
gollark: Wrong case convention, hardcoded constants everywhere.
gollark: It's *bad* Python.
gollark: They glue extra cache on top, with very clever glue.
gollark: That sounds not at all annoying to customers.

References
  1. See generally 26 U.S.C. § 7803.
  2. 26 C.F.R. section 601.101(a).
  3. Act of July 1, 1862, Ch. CXIX, 12 Stat. 432.
  4. 26 U.S.C. sec. 7803, as amended by the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Pub. L. No. 105-206 (July 22, 1998).
  5. 26 U.S.C. § 7803.
  6. Treasury Order 150-10, Delegation—Responsibility for Internal Revenue Laws, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury (April 22, 1982), at treasury.gov
  7. Treasury Order 101-05, Reporting Relationships and Supervision of Officials, Offices and Bureaus, and Delegation of Certain Authority in the Department of the Treasury, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury (Jan. 10, 2011), at treasury.gov
  8. 26 C.F.R. § 301.7805-1.
  9. Treasury Order 107-03, Regulations Pertaining to the Internal Revenue Law, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury (Jan. 30, 1978), at treasury.gov
  10. "Internal Revenue Service Data Book 2003" (PDF). irs.gov. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  11. George Jones, CCH News Staff, CCH 2007 TaxDay, Stiff Starts as Acting IRS Commissioner, Item #I.6 (Sept. 21, 2007).
  12. Official IRS Web Site, Acting Commissioner Linda E. Stiff "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2017-08-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) (Mar. 24, 2008)
  13. President Obama Appoints Daniel Werfel as Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue, May 16, 2013
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.