President Trump Nominates Tax Lawyer as Next IRS Commissioner

President Donald Trump recently announced that he will nominate tax attorney Charles Rettig to be the next IRS chief. His five-year term would run from Nov. 13, 2017, when John Koskinen’s term expired. David Kautter, assistant secretary of the Treasury, Tax Policy, has been the acting commissioner since Koskinen’s term ended.

Rettig earned his J.D. degree from Pepperdine University and his LL.M. in taxation from New York University. He practices with Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez PC, a tax law firm in Beverly Hills, Calif. He served as chair of the IRS’s Advisory Council. He is currently a vice chair for the American Bar Association’s Tax Section and vice president of the American College of Tax Counsel. He has served for almost 20 years as a member of the Advisory Board of the California Franchise Tax Board and was previously a member of the Advisory Council for the California State Board of Equalization.

Rettig’s nomination has to be confirmed by the Senate. Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), whose panel will make a recommendation to the full Senate after a confirmation hearing, recently praised Rettig’s qualifications. “The IRS has been bogged down by scandal and disruption in recent years, losing the trust of the American people,” Hatch said in a statement. “It’s past time we restore Americans’ faith in this agency. I look forward to learning more about Mr. Rettig and his qualifications to both achieve this goal and ensure an efficient implementation of the biggest tax rewrite in over 30 years.”