Rettig Starts Four-Year Term As IRS Commissioner

On October 1, Charles Rettig began his term as 49th Commissioner of the IRS. This gives the IRS a Commissioner for the first time in approximately one year, since his predecessor John Koskinen, an Obama appointee, stepped down in fall 2017. David Kautter, the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for tax policy, had been running the IRS in the interim.

Rettig's nomination has proceeded slowly throughout the year: he was nominated on February 13, 2018; approved by the Senate Finance Committee on July 19, 2018; and finally approved by the full Senate on September 12, 2018.

In the past, Rettig has emphasized the IRS's role in deterring taxpayers through audits. During his confirmation hearings, Rettig pledged that the IRS would be "impartial and non-biased."