IRS/TAXES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump will nominate tax lawyer Charles ‘Chuck’ Rettig to head the IRS, multiple sources with knowledge of the White House selection process told POLITICO on Tuesday night.
If confirmed by the Senate, Rettig would join the agency at one of its most challenging times, as it implements a sweeping new tax law with limited resources and faces a possible restructuring by Congress.
Rettig, who’s considered a tax controversy specialist, has for more than three decades represented clients before the IRS, the Justice Department, state tax authorities and other jurisdictions. He’s with the firm Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez PC, which is headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Rettig would replace John Koskinen, who stepped down in November at the end of his five-year term, as IRS commissioner. David Kautter, the assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy, has been serving as acting commissioner.
White House press aides declined to comment on Rettig.
No tangible connection between Trump and Rettig was apparent, though Rettig has defended Trump’s precedent-breaking decision to shield his tax returns from public scrutiny while they are being audited, as Trump claims…
Rettig would step into the IRS just as the revenue collection agency is developing rules on the new tax law Trump signed last month, a regulatory process expected to take up much of the IRS’ bandwidth this year. The agency has been seeking extra funding from Congress in part to handle the implementation.”
-Aaron Lorenzon, “Trump picks tax lawyer as next IRS commissioner, sources say,” Politico, Jan. 23, 2018 11:21pm