On Wednesday, September 12, the Senate by a vote of 64 to 33 confirmed Charles “Chuck” Rettig as IRS Commissioner, replacing Acting Commissioner David Kautter. His term in office wIll expire in November 2022. Rettig, who will oversee nearly 77,000 IRS employees, told the Senate that his top priorities as IRS Commissioner would be upgrading the agency’s technology and customer service.
Rettig, who had been at Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez in California for more than 35 years, specialized in federal and state civil tax and criminal tax controversy matters and tax litigation. Democratic opposition to his confirmation was based not on the belief that Rettig was unqualified for such a position, but rather as a protest against a new IRS policy detailed in Rev Proc 2018-38, 2018-31 IRB 280, that eliminates the disclosure of what Democrats say is needed information about donors to exempt organizations (see “IRS removes donor disclosure requirement for many tax-exempt organizations“).
