The Commissioner of Internal Revenue (or IRS Commissioner) is the head of the Internal Revenue Service

Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...

 (IRS), a bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury

United States Department of the Treasury

The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...

.

The office of Commissioner was created by Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 by the Revenue Act of 1862

Revenue Act of 1862

The Revenue Act of 1862 , was passed by the United States Congress to help fund the American Civil War. The Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, introducing the first progressive rate income tax to the country....

. The Commissioner is appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate, for a five year term.

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

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 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." The Commissioner reports to the Secretary of the Treasury through the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.

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

United States Secretary of the Treasury

The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...

, 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.

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."

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:

• George S. Boutwell
  George S. Boutwell
  George Sewall Boutwell was an American statesman who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Ulysses S...
  
   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
  Columbus Delano
  Columbus Delano, was a lawyer and a statesman and a member of the prominent Delano family.At the age of eight, Columbus Delano's family moved to Mount Vernon in Knox County, Ohio, a place he would call home for the rest of his life. After completing his primary education, he studied law and was...
  
   3/11/1869 - 10/31/1870
• John W. Douglass
  John W. Douglass
  John W. Douglass is a retired Brigadier General in the United States Air Force. He served as United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1995 to 1998. He is challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Frank Wolf in Virginia's 10th District.-Early life and education:John W...
  
   (Acting) 11/1/1870 - 1/2/1871
• Alfred Pleasonton
  Alfred Pleasonton
  Alfred Pleasonton was a United States Army officer and General of Union cavalry during the American Civil War. He commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the Gettysburg Campaign, including the largest predominantly cavalry battle of the war, Brandy Station...
  
   1/3/1871 - 8/8/1871
• John W. Douglass
  John W. Douglass
  John W. Douglass is a retired Brigadier General in the United States Air Force. He served as United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1995 to 1998. He is challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Frank Wolf in Virginia's 10th District.-Early life and education:John W...
  
   8/9/1871 - 5/14/1875
• Daniel D. Pratt
  Daniel D. Pratt
  Daniel Darwin Pratt was a United States Senator from Indiana. Born in Palermo, Maine, he moved to New York with his parents, who settled in Fenner. He attended the public schools and Cazenovia Seminary, and graduated from Hamilton College in 1831...
  
   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 Jay Knox
  John Jay Knox
  John Jay Knox was an American financier, born in Knoxboro, New York. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1849 and entered the banking business.He was a vigorous supporter of the national banking plan of Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase...
  
   (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
  William St. John Forman
  William St. John Forman was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.-Early life:Born in Natchez, Mississippi, Forman moved with his father to Nashville, Washington County, Illinois, in 1851. He attended the public schools, and Washington Seminary, Richview, Illinois...
  
   11/27/1896 - 12/31/1897
• Nathan B. Scott
  Nathan B. Scott
  Nathan Bay Scott was a United States Senator from West Virginia.-Biography:Born near Quaker City, Ohio, he attended the common schools and engaged in mining near Colorado Springs, Colorado from 1859 to 1862...
  
   1/1/1898 - 2/28/1899
• George W. Wilson
  George W. Wilson
  George Washington Wilson was a U.S. Representative from Ohio.-Biography:Wilson was born in Brighton, Ohio and attended the common schools and Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio....
  
   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
  William H. Osborn
  William Henry Osborn was a 19th Century railroad tycoon. Born and educated in Salem, Massachusetts, Osborn became one of the most prominent railroad leaders in the United States....
  
   4/28/1913 - 9/25/1917
• Daniel Calhoun Roper
  Daniel Calhoun Roper
  Daniel Calhoun Roper was a U.S. administrator, particularly under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, born in Marlboro County, South Carolina...
  
   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
  David H. Blair
  David Hunt Blair served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 1921-1929.Blair was born in High Point, North Carolina...
  
   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
  Guy T. Helvering
  Guy Tresillian Helvering was an American politician. He was a U.S. Representative from Kansas, and later served as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and as a federal district court judge.-Early life:...
  
   6/6/1933 - 10/8/1943
• Robert E. Hannegan
  Robert E. Hannegan
  Robert Emmet Hannegan was a St. Louis, Missouri politician who served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue from October 1943 to January 1944. He also served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1944 to 1947 and United States Postmaster General from 1945 to 1947...
  
   10/9/1943 - 1/22/1944
• Harold N. Graves (Acting) 1/23/1944 - 2/29/1944
• Joseph D. Nunan, Jr.
  Joseph D. Nunan, Jr.
  Joseph D. Nunan, Jr. was Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 3/1/1944 until 6/30/1947. He was convicted of tax evasion in 1952. He was convicted of hiding more than $90,000 income. In particular, he had won $1,800 on a bet that Harry Truman would win the election, but he neglected to declare it...
  
   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 Stephens Graham
  John Stephens Graham
  John Stephens Graham was a Washington, D.C. attorney and political appointee.He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, son of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company executive Joseph L. Graham and Margaret Nowell Graham. He was the younger brother of Katherine G. Howard...
  
   11/19/1952 - 1/19/1953
• Justin F. Winkle (Acting) 1/20/1953 - 2/3/1953
• T. Coleman Andrews
  T. Coleman Andrews
  Thomas Coleman Andrews was an accountant and an independent candidate for President of the United States....
  
   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
  Mortimer Caplin
  Mortimer Maxwell Caplin is an American lawyer and educator and the founding member of Caplin & Drysdale . Born in New York City, he holds B.S...
  
   2/7/1961 - 7/10/1964
• Bernard M. Harding (Acting) 7/11/1964 - 1/24/1965
• Sheldon Cohen
  Sheldon Cohen
  Sheldon Cohen is the Robert E. Doherty Professor of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the director of the Laboratory for the Study of Stress, Immunity and Disease...
  
   1/25/1965 - 1/20/1969
• William H. Smith
  William H. Smith
  William H. Smith may refer to:*William H. Smith , South African boxer of the 1920s*William H. Smith , Medal of Honor recipient*William Hugh Smith , Governor of Alabama...
  
  (Acting) 1/21/1969 - 3/31/1969
• Randolph W. Thrower
  Randolph W. Thrower
  Randolph W. Thrower is a partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, a law firm with principal offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, D.C. He was born in Tampa, Florida. Thrower, running as a Republican, unsuccessfully challenged incumbent segregationist James C. Davis for a seat in Congress...
  
   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
  Donald Alexander
  Donald Crichton Alexander was a tax lawyer and Nixon administration official.Alexander was appointed Commissioner of Internal Revenue by President Richard Nixon in May 1973, and was replaced in February 1977, early in the Jimmy Carter administration.Alexander resisted attempts by Nixon to use the...
  
   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.
  Roscoe L. Egger, Jr.
  Roscoe Lynn Egger, Jr. served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 1981 to 1986 and received the Tax Executive Institute’s Distinguished Service Award in 1986. He led the Internal Revenue Service through a tumultuous time in its history and pushed for numerous reforms in order to modernize...
  
   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.
  Fred T. Goldberg, Jr.
  Fred T. Goldberg, Jr. is an American tax lawyer who has served in high ranking positions in the United States Government, including holding the position of Commissioner of Internal Revenue.-Education:...
  
  . 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
  Charles O. Rossotti
  Charles O. Rossotti is an American businessman, and former Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Rossotti has a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School ....
  
   11/13/1997 - 11/6/2002
• Bob Wenzel
  Bob Wenzel
  Bob Wenzel is a former American college basketball coach and a current broadcaster for ESPN, the Big East Network, and CBS Sports.-College playing/Coaching career:...
  
   (Acting) 11/7/2002 - 4/30/2003.
• Mark W. Everson
  Mark W. Everson
  Mark W. Everson serves as a cabinet member for Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. He joined the Daniels administration in January 2009, when he was appointed Department of Administration Commissioner...
  
   5/1/2003 - 5/4/2007.
• Kevin M. Brown (Acting) 5/5/2007 - 9/9/2007.
• Linda E. Stiff (Acting) 9/10/2007–3/24/2008
• Douglas H. Shulman
  Douglas H. Shulman
  Douglas H. Shulman is the U.S. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. His nomination was confirmed by the full U.S. Senate on March 14, 2008 and he was sworn in on March 24, 2008...
  
   3/24/2008–present

Nomination for new Commissioner

On November 21, 2007, President George W. Bush announced that he was nominating Douglas H. Shulman

Douglas H. Shulman

Douglas H. Shulman is the U.S. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. His nomination was confirmed by the full U.S. Senate on March 14, 2008 and he was sworn in on March 24, 2008...

 of the District of Columbia to be Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Shulman was then Vice Chairman of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

In the United States, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, is a private corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization . FINRA is the successor to the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. ...

. Shulman received a bachelor's degree from Williams College

Williams College

Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...

, a master's degree from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, and a law degree from Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

. Shulman was confirmed by the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

on March 14, 2008.