IRS/NOMINATIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House announced Thursday [2-8-18] that President Donald Trump will nominate Charles Rettig, a California tax lawyer, to run the Internal Revenue Service, which is implementing the GOP tax overhaul this year.
Mr. Rettig, if confirmed by the Senate, will face a number of challenges at the agency. With the new tax law kicking in this year, the IRS needs to update forms, create new definitions, write regulations and field questions from taxpayers, which tend to increase when rules change. A recent report by the IRS’s taxpayer advocate said the agency will struggle to implement the new tax law without more money. Mr. Rettig’s nomination represents a departure from the trend of picking seasoned managers to run the IRS, an institution with about 80,000 employees, as opposed to tax experts.
The IRS has seen its budget cut in recent years, and its most recent commissioner, John Koskinen, clashed repeatedly with House Republicans and had trouble getting traction for his requests for additional funding. As Mr. Trump’s pick, Mr. Rettig could have a better chance at securing more funding from a Republican-controlled Congress…
Mr. Rettig’s law practice is focused on tax controversies, essentially defending taxpayers in conflicts with the IRS. He has represented taxpayers who disclosed offshore bank accounts under an IRS program that encouraged them to come forward.”
-Peter Nicholas, “Trump Names Tax Lawyer Charles Rettig to Run IRS,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 8, 2018 02:24pm