Commissioner of Internal Revenue

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

The office of Commissioner was created by Congress. See the Revenue Act of 1862[3]. The Commissioner is appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate, for a five year term.[4]

Contents

[edit] 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."

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 Secretary [of the Treasury or his delegate], shall prescribe all needful rules and regulations for the enforcement of the [Internal Revenue] Code (except where this authority is expressly given by the Code to any person other than an officer or employee of the Treasury Department), including all rules and regulations as may be necessary by reason of any alteration of law in relation to internal revenue.[5]

By law the Commissioner is also part of the "Federal law enforcement community."[6]

[edit] Current and past commissioners

The following lists Commissioners of Internal Revenue, in chronological order:[7]

  • George S. Boutwell 7/17/1862 - 3/4/1863
  • Joseph J. Lewis (Acting) 3/5/1863 - 3/17/1863
  • Joseph J. Lewis 3/18/1863 - 6/30/1865
  • William Orton 7/1/1865 - 10/31/1865
  • Edward A. Rollins 11/1/1865 - 3/10/1869
  • Columbus Delano 3/11/1869 - 10/31/1870
  • John W. Douglass (Acting) 11/1/1870 - 1/2/1871
  • Alfred Pleasonton 1/3/1871 - 8/8/1871
  • John W. Douglass 8/9/1871 - 5/14/1875
  • Daniel D. Pratt 5/15/1875 - 8/1/1876
  • Green B. Raum 8/2/1876 - 4/30/1883
  • Henry C. Rogers (Acting) 5/1/1883 - 5/10/1883
  • John J. Knox (Acting) 5/11/1883 - 5/20/1883
  • Walter Evans 5/21/1883 - 3/19/1885
  • Joseph S. Miller 3/20/1885 - 3/20/1889
  • John W. Mason 3/21/1889 - 4/18/1893
  • Joseph S. Miller 4/19/1893 - 11/26/1896
  • William St. John Forman 11/27/1896 - 12/31/1897
  • Nathan B. Scott 1/1/1898 - 2/28/1899
  • George W. Wilson 3/1/1899 - 11/27/1900
  • Robert Williams, Jr. (Acting) 11/28/1900 - 12/19/1900
  • John W. Yerkes 12/20/1900 - 4/30/1907
  • Henry C. Rogers (Acting) 5/1/1907 - 6/4/1907
  • John G. Capers 6/5/1907 - 8/31/1909
  • Royal E. Cabell 9/1/1909 - 4/27/1913
  • William H. Osborn 4/28/1913 - 9/25/1917
  • Daniel Calhoun Roper 9/26/1917 - 3/31/1920
  • William M. Williams 4/1/1920 - 4/11/1921
  • Millard F. West (Acting) 4/12/1921 - 5/26/1921
  • David H. Blair 5/27/1921 - 5/31/1929
  • Robert H. Lucas 6/1/1929 - 8/15/1930
  • H. F. Mires (Acting) 8/16/1930 - 8/19/1930
  • David Burnet 8/20/1930 - 5/15/1933
  • Pressly R. Baldridge (Acting) 5/16/1933 - 6/5/1933
  • Guy T. Helvering 6/6/1933 - 10/8/1943
  • Robert E. Hannegan 10/9/1943 - 1/22/1944
  • Harold N. Graves (Acting) 1/23/1944 - 2/29/1944
  • Joseph D. Nunan, Jr. 3/1/1944 - 6/30/1947
  • George J. Schoeneman 7/1/1947 - 7/31/1951
  • John B. Dunlap 8/1/1951 - 11/18/1952
  • John S. Graham 11/19/1952 - 1/19/1953
  • Justin F. Winkle (Acting) 1/20/1953 - 2/3/1953
  • T. Coleman Andrews 2/4/1953 - 10/31/1955
  • O. Gordon Delk (Acting) 11/1/1955 - 12/4/1955
  • Russell C. Harrington 12/5/1955 - 9/30/1958
  • O. Gordon Delk (Acting) 10/1/1958 - 11/4/1958
  • Dana Latham 11/5/1958 - 1/20/1961
  • Charles I. Fox (Acting) 1/21/1961 - 2/6/1961
  • Mortimer Caplin 2/7/1961 - 7/10/1964
  • Bernard M. Harding (Acting) 7/11/1964 - 1/24/1965
  • Sheldon Cohen 1/25/1965 - 1/20/1969
  • William H. Smith (Acting) 1/21/1969 - 3/31/1969
  • Randolph W. Thrower 4/1/1969 - 6/22/1971
  • Harold T. Swartz (Acting) 6/23/1971 - 8/5/1971
  • Johnnie M. Walters 8/6/1971 - 4/30/1973
  • Raymond F. Harless (Acting) 5/1/1973 - 5/25/1973
  • Donald C. Alexander 5/25/1973 - 2/26/1977
  • William E. Williams (Acting) 2/27/1977 - 5/4/1977
  • Jerome Kurtz 5/5/1977 - 10/31/1980
  • William E. Williams (Acting) 12/1/1980 - 3/13/1981
  • Roscoe L. Egger, Jr. 3/14/1981 - 4/30/1986
  • James I. Owens (Acting) 5/1/1986 - 8/3/1986
  • Lawrence B. Gibbs 8/4/1986 - 3/4/1989
  • Michael J. Murphy (Acting) 3/5/1989 - 7/4/1989
  • Fred T. Goldberg, Jr.. 7/5/1989 - 2/2/1992
  • Shirley D. Peterson 2/3/1992 - 1/20/1993
  • Michael P. Dolan (Acting) 1/21/1993 - 5/26/1993
  • Margaret Milner Richardson 5/27/1993 - 5/31/1997
  • Michael P. Dolan (Acting) 6/1/1997 - 11/12/1997
  • Charles O. Rossotti 11/13/1997 - 11/6/2002
  • Bob Wenzel (Acting) 11/7/2002 - 4/30/2003.
  • Mark W. Everson 5/1/2003 - 5/4/2007.
  • Kevin M. Brown (Acting) 5/5/2007 - 9/9/2007.
  • Linda E. Stiff[8] (Acting) 9/10/2007–3/24/2008
  • Douglas H. Shulman[9] 3/24/2008–present

[edit] Nomination for new Commissioner

On November 21, 2007, President George W. Bush announced that he was nominating Douglas H. Shulman of the District of Columbia to be Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Shulman was then Vice Chairman of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Shulman received a bachelor's degree from Williams College, a master's degree from Harvard University, and a law degree from Georgetown University.[10] Shulman was confirmed by the Senate on March 14, 2008.[11]

[edit] Notes

  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. § 7803.
  5. ^ 26 C.F.R. § 301.7805-1.
  6. ^ 42 U.S.C. § 10502(2)(D).
  7. ^ Internal Revenue Service Data Book 2003, accessed 9/13/2007 from http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/03databk.pdf.
  8. ^ George Jones, CCH News Staff, CCH 2007 TaxDay, Stiff Starts as Acting IRS Commissioner, Item #I.6 (Sept. 21, 2007).
  9. ^ Official IRS Web Site, Commissioner of Internal Revenue Douglas Shulman (Mar. 24, 2008)
  10. ^ Personnel Announcement, Nov. 21, 2007, The White House, Washington, D.C. at [1].
  11. ^ Associated Press, Shulman Confirmed As IRS Commissioner (Mar. 14, 2008)

[edit] References