Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Logo of the IRS
Incumbent
Scott Bessent
Acting
since August 8, 2025
United States Internal Revenue Service
StyleCommissioner
Reports toSecretary of the Treasury
SeatInternal Revenue Service Building
1111 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, D.C.
AppointerPresident of the United States
with Senate advice and consent
Term length5 years
Constituting instrument26 U.S.C. § 7803
Formation1862
First holderGeorge S. Boutwell
Websitewww.irs.gov

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue (or IRS Commissioner) 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 by the Revenue Act of 1862.[3] Their job is 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.[4][5]

List of commissioners

The following lists commissioners of internal revenue, in chronological order:[6][7]

No. Image Name Term start Term end Refs.
1 George S. Boutwell July 17, 1862 March 4, 1863
Acting Joseph J. Lewis March 5, 1863 March 17, 1863
2 March 18, 1863 June 30, 1865
3 William Orton July 1, 1865 October 31, 1865
4 Edward A. Rollins November 1, 1865 March 10, 1869
5 Columbus Delano March 11, 1869 October 31, 1870
Acting John Watkinson Douglass November 1, 1870 January 2, 1871
6 Alfred Pleasonton January 3, 1871 August 8, 1871
7 John Watkinson Douglass August 9, 1871 May 14, 1875
8 Daniel D. Pratt May 15, 1875 August 1, 1876
9 Green B. Raum August 2, 1876 April 30, 1883
Acting Henry C. Rogers May 1, 1883 May 10, 1883
Acting John Jay Knox May 11, 1883 May 20, 1883
10 Walter Evans May 21, 1883 March 19, 1885
11 Joseph S. Miller March 20, 1885 March 20, 1889
12 John W. Mason March 21, 1889 April 18, 1893
13 Joseph S. Miller April 19, 1893 November 26, 1896
14 William St. John Forman November 27, 1896 December 31, 1897
15 Nathan B. Scott January 1, 1898 February 28, 1899
16 George W. Wilson March 1, 1899 November 27, 1900
Acting Robert Williams Jr. November 28, 1900 December 19, 1900
17 John W. Yerkes December 20, 1900 April 30, 1907
Acting Henry C. Rogers May 1, 1907 June 4, 1907
18 John G. Capers June 5, 1907 August 31, 1909
19 Royal E. Cabell September 1, 1909 April 27, 1913
20 William H. Osborn April 28, 1913 September 25, 1917
21 Daniel Calhoun Roper September 26, 1917 March 31, 1920
22 William M. Williams April 1, 1920 April 11, 1921
Acting Millard F. West April 12, 1921 May 26, 1921
23 David H. Blair May 27, 1921 May 31, 1929
24 Robert H. Lucas June 1, 1929 August 15, 1930
Acting H. F. Mires August 16, 1930 August 19, 1930
25 David Burnet August 20, 1930 May 15, 1933
Acting Pressly R. Baldridge May 16, 1933 June 5, 1933
26 Guy T. Helvering June 6, 1933 October 8, 1943
27 Robert E. Hannegan October 9, 1943 January 22, 1944
Acting Harold N. Graves January 23, 1944 February 29, 1944
28 Joseph D. Nunan Jr. March 1, 1944 June 30, 1947
29 George J. Schoeneman July 1, 1947 July 31, 1951
30 John B. Dunlap August 1, 1951 November 18, 1952
Acting John Stephens Graham November 19, 1952 January 19, 1953
Acting Justin F. Winkle January 20, 1953 February 3, 1953
31 T. Coleman Andrews February 4, 1953 October 31, 1955
Acting O. Gordon Delk November 1, 1955 December 4, 1955
32 Russell C. Harrington December 5, 1955 September 30, 1958
Acting O. Gordon Delk October 1, 1958 November 4, 1958
33 Dana Latham November 5, 1958 January 20, 1961
Acting Charles I. Fox January 21, 1961 February 6, 1961
34 Mortimer Caplin February 7, 1961 July 10, 1964
Acting Bernard M. Harding July 11, 1964 January 24, 1965
35 Sheldon S. Cohen January 25, 1965 January 20, 1969
Acting William H. Smith January 21, 1969 March 31, 1969
36 Randolph W. Thrower April 1, 1969 June 22, 1971
Acting Harold T. Swartz June 23, 1971 August 5, 1971
37 Johnnie Mac Walters August 6, 1971 April 30, 1973
Acting Raymond F. Harless May 1, 1973 May 25, 1973
38 Donald C. Alexander May 25, 1973 February 26, 1977
Acting William E. Williams February 27, 1977 May 4, 1977
39 Jerome Kurtz May 5, 1977 October 31, 1980
Acting William E. Williams November 1, 1980 March 13, 1981
40 Roscoe L. Egger Jr. March 14, 1981 April 30, 1986
Acting James I. Owens May 1, 1986 August 3, 1986
41 Lawrence B. Gibbs August 4, 1986 March 4, 1989
Acting Michael J. Murphy March 5, 1989 July 4, 1989
42 Fred T. Goldberg Jr. July 5, 1989 February 2, 1992
43 Shirley D. Peterson February 3, 1992 January 20, 1993
Acting Michael P. Dolan January 21, 1993 May 26, 1993
44 Margaret Milner Richardson May 27, 1993 May 31, 1997
Acting Michael P. Dolan June 1, 1997 November 12, 1997
45 Charles O. Rossotti November 13, 1997 November 6, 2002
Acting Bob Wenzel November 7, 2002 April 30, 2003
46 Mark W. Everson May 1, 2003 May 4, 2007
Acting Kevin M. Brown May 5, 2007 September 9, 2007 [8]
Acting Linda E. Stiff September 10, 2007 March 24, 2008 [9][10]
47 Douglas H. Shulman March 24, 2008 November 9, 2012 [11]
Acting Steven T. Miller November 10, 2012 May 22, 2013 [12]
Acting Daniel Werfel May 22, 2013 December 23, 2013 [13]
48 John Koskinen December 23, 2013 November 12, 2017 [14]
Acting David Kautter November 13, 2017 October 1, 2018 [15]
49 Charles P. Rettig October 1, 2018 November 12, 2022 [16][17]
Acting Doug O'Donnell November 13, 2022 March 13, 2023 [18]
50 Daniel Werfel March 13, 2023 January 20, 2025 [19][20][21]
Acting Doug O'Donnell January 20, 2025 February 28, 2025 [20][22]
Acting Melanie Krause February 28, 2025 April 16, 2025 [22][23]
Acting Gary Shapley April 16, 2025 April 18, 2025 [23]
Acting Michael Faulkender April 18, 2025 June 16, 2025 [24]
51 Billy Long June 16, 2025 August 8, 2025 [25][26][27]
Acting Scott Bessent August 8, 2025 present [27]

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. ↑ Treasury Order 150-10, Delegation—Responsibility for Internal Revenue Laws, U.S. Dep't of the Treasury (April 22, 1982), at treasury.gov
  6. ↑ Internal Revenue Service Data Book 2003 (PDF). IRS. 2003. pp. 63–64. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Previous IRS commissioners". IRS.
  8. ↑ "Acting IRS commissioner to join Red Cross". NBC News. July 26, 2007.
  9. ↑ George Jones, CCH News Staff, CCH 2007 TaxDay, Stiff Starts as Acting IRS Commissioner, Item #I.6 (Sept. 21, 2007).
  10. ↑ "Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue Linda e. Stiff". Archived from the original on 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  11. ↑ "Shulman to Finish His Term as IRS Commissioner on Nov. 9" (PDF). IRS. October 10, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Miller to stand in as IRS commissioner". International Tax Review. October 10, 2012.
  13. ↑ "President Obama Appoints Daniel Werfel as Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue". The White House. May 16, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Senate Confirms John Koskinen as IRS Commissioner". The Tax Advisor. December 20, 2013.
  15. ↑ Nevius, Alistair M. (October 26, 2017). "David Kautter to be named acting IRS commissioner". The Tax Advisor.
  16. ↑ Nevius, Alistair M. (October 2, 2018). "Charles Rettig sworn in as new IRS commissioner". The Tax Advisor.
  17. ↑ Burns, Tobias (October 28, 2022). "Rettig out as IRS commissioner". The Hill.
  18. ↑ "IRS Deputy Commissioner Douglas O'Donnell Designated Acting IRS Commissioner" (Press release). Treasure Department. October 28, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Werfel begins work as 50th IRS Commissioner". IRS. March 13, 2023.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Amato, Neil (January 17, 2025). "Werfel to resign Monday as IRS commissioner". Journal of Accountancy.
  21. ↑ "Commissioner Danny Werfel". IRS.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Krause to serve as acting IRS Commissioner; O'Donnell retires after distinguished career". IRS. February 25, 2025.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Swan, Jonathan; Duehren, Andrew; Rappeport, Alan; Haberman, Maggie (April 18, 2025). "Head of I.R.S. Being Ousted Amid Treasury's Power Struggle With Elon Musk". The New York Times.
  24. ↑ Rubin, Richard; Schwartz, Brian; Parti, Tarini. "Trump to Replace Acting IRS Commissioner". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-04-18.
  25. ↑ "Ex-congressman Billy Long confirmed as commissioner of the IRS, an agency he once sought to abolish". AP News. 2025-06-12. Retrieved 2025-08-08.
  26. ↑ "Long sworn in as the 51st IRS Commissioner". IRS. June 23, 2025.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Duehren, Andrew; Rappeport, Alan; Haberman, Maggie (2025-08-08). "Trump Is Removing the I.R.S. Chief 2 Months After He Was Confirmed". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-08-08.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.