Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Commissioner of Internal Revenue
	Logo of the IRS
	Incumbent; Daniel Werfel; since March 13, 2023
	United States Internal Revenue Service
Style	Commissioner
Reports to	Secretary of the Treasury
Seat	Internal Revenue Service Building; 1111 Constitution Ave., NW; Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President of the United States; with Senate advice and consent
Term length	5 years
Constituting instrument	26 U.S.C. § 7803
Formation	1862
First holder	George S. Boutwell
Website	www.irs.gov

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]

The office of Commissioner was created by Congress as part of 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 of the United States, with the consent of the U.S. Senate, for a five-year term.^[5]

Daniel Werfel is the current Commissioner of Internal Revenue, having been sworn in on March 13, 2023. Werfel is the 50th Commissioner to serve in the position since it was created.^[6]

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."^[7] The Commissioner reports to the Secretary of the Treasury through the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.^[8]

One of the Commissioner's most important responsibilities with respect to the internal revenue laws is setting the 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.^[9]

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."^[10]

Current and past commissioners

The following lists Commissioners of Internal Revenue, in chronological order:^[11]

Name	Term start	Term end
George S. Boutwell	July 17, 1862	March 4, 1863
Joseph J. Lewis (Acting)	March 5, 1863	March 17, 1863
Joseph J. Lewis	March 18, 1863	June 30, 1865
William Orton	July 1, 1865	October 31, 1865
Edward A. Rollins	November 1, 1865	March 10, 1869
Columbus Delano	March 11, 1869	October 31, 1870
John Watkinson Douglass (Acting)	November 1, 1870	January 2, 1871
Alfred Pleasonton	January 3, 1871	August 8, 1871
John Watkinson Douglass	August 9, 1871	May 14, 1875
Daniel D. Pratt	May 15, 1875	August 1, 1876
Green B. Raum	August 2, 1876	April 30, 1883
Henry C. Rogers (Acting)	May 1, 1883	May 10, 1883
John Jay Knox (Acting)	May 11, 1883	May 20, 1883
Walter Evans	May 21, 1883	March 19, 1885
Joseph S. Miller	March 20, 1885	March 20, 1889
John W. Mason	March 21, 1889	April 18, 1893
Joseph S. Miller	April 19, 1893	November 26, 1896
William St. John Forman	November 27, 1896	December 31, 1897
Nathan B. Scott	January 1, 1898	February 28, 1899
George W. Wilson	March 1, 1899	November 27, 1900
Robert Williams Jr. (Acting)	November 28, 1900	December 19, 1900
John W. Yerkes	December 20, 1900	April 30, 1907
Henry C. Rogers (Acting)	May 1, 1907	June 4, 1907
John G. Capers	June 5, 1907	August 31, 1909
Royal E. Cabell	September 1, 1909	April 27, 1913
William H. Osborn	April 28, 1913	September 25, 1917
Daniel Calhoun Roper	September 26, 1917	March 31, 1920
William M. Williams	April 1, 1920	April 11, 1921
Millard F. West (Acting)	April 12, 1921	May 26, 1921
David H. Blair	May 27, 1921	May 31, 1929
Robert H. Lucas	June 1, 1929	August 15, 1930
H. F. Mires (Acting)	August 16, 1930	August 19, 1930
David Burnet	August 20, 1930	May 15, 1933
Pressly R. Baldridge (Acting)	May 16, 1933	June 5, 1933
Guy T. Helvering	June 6, 1933	October 8, 1943
Robert E. Hannegan	October 9, 1943	January 22, 1944
Harold N. Graves (Acting)	January 23, 1944	February 29, 1944
Joseph D. Nunan Jr.	March 1, 1944	June 30, 1947
George J. Schoeneman	July 1, 1947	July 31, 1951
John B. Dunlap	August 1, 1951	November 18, 1952
John Stephens Graham	November 19, 1952	January 19, 1953
Justin F. Winkle (Acting)	January 20, 1953	February 3, 1953
T. Coleman Andrews	February 4, 1953	October 31, 1955
O. Gordon Delk (Acting)	November 1, 1955	December 4, 1955
Russell C. Harrington	December 5, 1955	September 30, 1958
O. Gordon Delk (Acting)	October 1, 1958	November 4, 1958
Dana Latham	November 5, 1958	January 20, 1961
Charles I. Fox (Acting)	January 21, 1961	February 6, 1961
Mortimer Caplin	February 7, 1961	July 10, 1964
Bernard M. Harding (Acting)	July 11, 1964	January 24, 1965
Sheldon S. Cohen	January 25, 1965	January 20, 1969
William H. Smith (Acting)	January 21, 1969	March 31, 1969
Randolph W. Thrower	April 1, 1969	June 22, 1971
Harold T. Swartz (Acting)	June 23, 1971	August 5, 1971
Johnnie Mac Walters	August 6, 1971	April 30, 1973
Raymond F. Harless (Acting)	May 1, 1973	May 25, 1973
Donald C. Alexander	May 25, 1973	February 26, 1977
William E. Williams (Acting)	February 27, 1977	May 4, 1977
Jerome Kurtz	May 5, 1977	October 31, 1980
William E. Williams (Acting)	November 1, 1980	March 13, 1981
Roscoe L. Egger Jr.	March 14, 1981	April 30, 1986
James I. Owens (Acting)	May 1, 1986	August 3, 1986
Lawrence B. Gibbs	August 4, 1986	March 4, 1989
Michael J. Murphy (Acting)	March 5, 1989	July 4, 1989
Fred T. Goldberg, Jr.	July 5, 1989	February 2, 1992
Shirley D. Peterson	February 3, 1992	January 20, 1993
Michael P. Dolan (Acting)	January 21, 1993	May 26, 1993
Margaret Milner Richardson	May 27, 1993	May 31, 1997
Michael P. Dolan (Acting)	June 1, 1997	November 12, 1997
Charles O. Rossotti	November 13, 1997	November 6, 2002
Bob Wenzel (Acting)	November 7, 2002	April 30, 2003
Mark W. Everson	May 1, 2003	May 4, 2007
Kevin M. Brown (Acting)	May 5, 2007	September 9, 2007
Linda E. Stiff^[12]^[13](Acting)	September 10, 2007	March 24, 2008
Douglas H. Shulman	March 24, 2008	November 9, 2012
Steven T. Miller (Acting)	November 10, 2012	May 22, 2013
Daniel Werfel (Acting)	May 22, 2013^[14]	December 23, 2013
John Koskinen	December 23, 2013	November 9, 2017
David Kautter (Acting)	November 13, 2017	October 1, 2018
Charles P. Rettig	October 1, 2018	November 12, 2022
Doug O'Donnell (Acting)	November 13, 2022	March 13, 2023
Daniel Werfel	March 13, 2023	present

References

^ See generally 26 U.S.C. § 7803.
^ 26 C.F.R. section 601.101(a).
^ Act of July 1, 1862, Ch. CXIX, 12 Stat. 432.
^ 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).
^ 26 U.S.C. § 7803.
^ "Werfel begins work as 50th IRS Commissioner". Internal Revenue Service. 2023-03-13. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
^ Treasury Order 150-10, Delegation—Responsibility for Internal Revenue Laws, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury (April 22, 1982), at treasury.gov
^ 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
^ 26 C.F.R. § 301.7805-1.
^ Treasury Order 107-03, Regulations Pertaining to the Internal Revenue Law, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury (Jan. 30, 1978), at treasury.gov
^ "Internal Revenue Service Data Book 2003" (PDF). irs.gov. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
^ George Jones, CCH News Staff, CCH 2007 TaxDay, Stiff Starts as Acting IRS Commissioner, Item #I.6 (Sept. 21, 2007).
^ Official IRS Web Site, Acting Commissioner Linda E. Stiff "Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue Linda e. Stiff". Archived from the original on 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2017-08-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (Mar. 24, 2008)
^ President Obama Appoints Daniel Werfel as Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue, May 16, 2013

External links

[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.

[IRS-Werfel-6] "Werfel begins work as 50th IRS Commissioner". Internal Revenue Service. 2023-03-13. Retrieved 2023-03-16.

[7] Treasury Order 150-10, Delegation—Responsibility for Internal Revenue Laws, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury (April 22, 1982), at treasury.gov

[8] 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

[9] 26 C.F.R. § 301.7805-1.

[10] Treasury Order 107-03, Regulations Pertaining to the Internal Revenue Law, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury (Jan. 30, 1978), at treasury.gov

[11] "Internal Revenue Service Data Book 2003" (PDF). irs.gov. Retrieved September 13, 2007.

[12] George Jones, CCH News Staff, CCH 2007 TaxDay, Stiff Starts as Acting IRS Commissioner, Item #I.6 (Sept. 21, 2007).

[13] Official IRS Web Site, Acting Commissioner Linda E. Stiff "Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue Linda e. Stiff". Archived from the original on 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2017-08-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (Mar. 24, 2008)

[14] President Obama Appoints Daniel Werfel as Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue, May 16, 2013

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