Seal of the Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. The IRS is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury. The official U.S. Treasury regulations provide (in part): Image File history File links IRSSeal. ... Image File history File links IRSSeal. ... The government of the United States, established by the United States Constitution, is a federal republic of 50 states, a few territories and some protectorates. ... A tax (also known as a duty) is a financial charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state (e. ... Tax law is the codified system of laws that describes government levies on economic transactions, commonly called taxes. ... The United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department and the treasury of the United States government. ...

The Internal Revenue Service is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The Commissioner has general superintendence of the assessment and collection of all taxes imposed by any law providing internal revenue. The Internal Revenue Service is the agency by which these functions are performed.^[1] The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, or IRS Commissioner, is the head of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. ...

History: Bureau of Internal Revenue

In 1862, during the Civil War, President Lincoln and Congress created the office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue and enacted an income tax to pay war expenses (see Revenue Act of 1862). The position of Commissioner still exists today. The Commissioner is the head of the Internal Revenue Service. Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert Edward Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... The presidential seal was used by President Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed Honest Abe, the Rail Splitter, and the Great Emancipator, was an American politician who served as the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party. ... Congress in Joint Session. ... An income tax is a tax levied on the financial income of persons, corporations or other legal entities. ... The Revenue Act of 1862 was passed by the United States Congress during the Civil War. ...

The organization created to enforce these taxes was named for the internal revenue to be collected (and was formerly called the "Bureau of Internal Revenue"), in contrast to U.S. government institutions that collected external revenue through duties and tariffs. (Similarly, the United Kingdom has an Inland Revenue Commission.) The income tax was repealed 10 years later. In 1894, Congress revived the income tax, but the following year the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., that taxes on capital gains, dividends, interest, rents and the like were direct taxes on property, and that the statute in question was unconstitutional because it had not apportioned the direct taxes among the states according to population. In 1913, however, the states ratified the 16th Amendment, which removed the requirement that income taxes (whether considered direct or indirect taxes) be apportioned by population. This article is in need of attention. ... A tariff is a tax on imported goods. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... Holding --- Court membership Case opinions Laws applied --- Pollock v. ... In finance, a capital gain is profit that is realized from the sale of an asset that was previously purchased at a lower price. ... A dividend is the distribution of profits to a companys shareholders. ... In finance, interest has three general definitions. ... In economic theory, economic rent is an analytic term employed to distinguish the difference between the income earned by an input or factor of production, and the cost of the factor of production. ... Amendment XVI (the Sixteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, authorizing income taxes in their present form, was ratified on February 3, 1913. ...

The IRS has its National Capital offices in the greater Washington, DC area, and in particular does most of its computer programming in Maryland. It operates various service centers around the country (currently ten; these are the locations to which taxpayers mail their returns); these centers do the actual tax processing (by running the computer programs written by the National Office); different types of tax processing take place in various centers (such as the distinction between individual and business tax processing). It also operates three computer centers in different locations around the country. Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Computer programming (often simply programming or coding) is the craft of writing a set of commands or instructions that can later be compiled and/or interpreted and then inherently transformed to an executable that an electronic machine can execute or run. Programming requires mainly logic, but has elements of science... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,417 sq mi (32,160 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37°53N to 39°43N  - Longitude 75°4W to 79°33... A Lego RCX Computer is an example of an embedded computer used to control mechanical devices. ...

History: Name change in the 1950s and reorganization

In the 1950s, career professional employees replaced the patronage system. Currently, only the IRS Commissioner and Chief Counsel are selected by the President and confirmed by the Senate. In 1952 the Bureau of Internal Revenue name was changed to the "Internal Revenue Service" to emphasize "service" to taxpayers. Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... Generally, patronage is the act of a so-called patron who supports or favors some individual, family, group or institution. ...

Administrative functions

In addition to collection of revenue and pursuing tax cheaters, the IRS issues administrative rulings such as revenue rulings and private letter rulings. In addition the Service publishes the Internal Revenue Bulletin containing the various IRS pronouncements. The controlling authority of regulations and revenue rulings allows taxpayers to rely on them. A private letter ruling is good for the taxpayer to whom it is issued, and gives some explanation of the Service's position on a particular tax issue. As is the case with all administrative pronouncements, taxpayers sometimes litigate the validity of the pronouncements, and courts sometimes determine a particular rule to be invalid where the agency has exceeded its grant of authority. The IRS also issues formal pronouncements called Revenue Procedures that among other things tell taxpayers how to correct prior tax errors.

More formal rulemaking to give the Service's interpretation of a statute or when the statute itself directs that the Secretary of the Treasury shall provide, IRS undergoes the formal regulation process with an NPRM (Notice of proposed rulemaking) published in the Federal Register announcing the proposed regulation, the date of the in person hearing and the process for interested parties to have their views heard either in person at the hearing in Washington, D.C., or by mail. Following the statutory period provided in the Administrative Procedure Act (an abiding interest of Justice Scalia's dissenting opinions) the Service decides on the final regulations "as is," or as reflecting changes, or sometimes withdraws the proposed regulations. Generally, taxpayers may rely on proposed regulations until final regulations become effective. For example, human resource professionals are relying on the October 4, 2005 Proposed Regulations (citation 70 F.R. 57930-57984[1]) for the Section 409A on deferred compensation (the so-called Enron rules on deferred compensation to add teeth to the old rules) because regulations have not been finalized. The United States Secretary of the Treasury is the finance minister of the Federal Government of the United States. ... A notice of proposed rulemaking or NPRM is issued by law when a regulatory agency of the United States Federal Government wishes to add, remove, or change a rule (or regulation). ... The Federal Register contains most routine publications and public notices of United States government agencies. ... The federal Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of 1946 governs the way in which administrative agencies of the United States federal government may propose and establish regulations. ... The Federal Register contains most routine publications and public notices of United States government agencies. ... Enron Corporation was an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. ...

Consumers should be aware that the IRS never sends out unsolicited emails, and under no circumstances, requests credit card information or PIN numbers through email. Persons receiving emails that claim to be from the IRS should not attempt to visit any site contained within the email and should report suspicious emails to the IRS. [2]

Reorganization of the late 1990s

As a by-product of hearings on abusive conduct by IRS employees, Congress enacted the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998.^[2] As a result of that Act the IRS now functions under four major operating divisions: Large & Mid-Size Business (LMSB), Small Business / Self-Employed (SB/SE), Wage and Investment (W&I), and Tax Exempt & Government Entities (TE/GE). The IRS also includes a criminal law enforcement division.

Flooding at IRS headquarters building

IRS building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C..

The main headquarters building of the IRS is located at 1111 Constitution Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C., near the Old Post Office. The IRS headquarters building was closed in June 2006 as a result of heavy flooding. According to a July 12, 2006 letter from Senator Max Baucus (Dem.-Montana), a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, the sub-basement of the building was filled with water to a depth of twenty feet, and electrical and maintenance equipment in the sub-basement was about 95% damaged or destroyed. The IRS and the General Services Administration have announced that the building will remain closed at least through the end of 2006. The employees who worked in the building -- numbering over two thousand -- have been temporarily transferred to other offices in the Washington, D.C. area. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... In Washington, D.C., Constitution Avenue is a major east-west street running just north of the United States Capitol in the citys Northwest and Northeast quadrants. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C. in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia. ... In Washington, D.C., Constitution Avenue is a major east-west street running just north of the United States Capitol in the citys Northwest and Northeast quadrants. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C. in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia. ... The Old Post Office Pavilion is located the intersection of 12th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, in Washington, DC. When completed in 1899, it was thought that the Post Office Building would stimulate revitalization of one of the worst neighborhoods in Washington, DC. It became evident that the hoped-for... The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. ...

Tax collections

Summary of Collections before Refunds by Type of Return, Fiscal Year 2003:

In fiscal year 2004, the IRS collected $43.1 billion in enforcement revenue. This is an increase of $5.5 billion (15 percent) from fiscal year 2003. ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 3. ...

Recently, the IRS has altered its policies. The current Service plus Enforcement equals Compliance motto has led to more investigations of abusive tax schemes.

Outsourcing collections

Beginning in September 2006, the IRS will begin to outsource the collection of taxpayers debts to private debt collection agencies. Opponents to this change note that the IRS will be handing over personal information to these debt collection agencies, who are being paid between twenty-two and twenty-four percent of the amount collected. Opponents are also worried about the agencies' being paid on percent collected because it will encourage the collectors to use pressure tactics to collect the maximum amount. IRS spokesman Terry Lemons responds to these claims saying the new system "is a sound, balanced program that respects taxpayers' rights and taxpayer privacy." Currently there are other state and local agencies that are using private collection agencies and have not had any problems. D. Caterinicchia, IRS moves ahead on debt-collection plan

Commissioner

The current Commissioner of Internal Revenue is Mark W. Everson, who was confirmed by the U. S. Senate on May 1, 2003. Mark W. Everson commissioner of the IRS Mark W. Everson (born September 10, 1954) is the current Commissioner of Internal Revenue, serving as head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States. ...

See also

• Taxation in the United States
• Non-profit corporation
• United States of America non-profit laws
• 501(c)(3)
• 527 group
• IRS Reclassification

Taxation in the United States is a complex system which may involve payments to at least four different levels of government. ... A non-profit organization (often called non-profit org or simply non-profit or not-for-profit) is an organization whose primary objective is something other than the generation of profit. ... Laws regarding non-profit organizations in the United States of America relate to taxation, the special problems of an organization which does not have profit as its primary motivation, and prevention of charitable fraud. ... 501(c)(3) is a provision of the US tax code that provides exempt status, for Federal income tax purposes, for some non-profit organizations in the United States (see 26 U.S.C. Â§ 501(c)(3)). The term refers to: Section 501. ... A 527 group, is a type of tax-exempt organization, named after a section of the United States tax code, that is created primarily to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office. ...

Notes

Further reading

• Davis, Shelley L., Matalin, Mary. Unbridled Power: Inside the Secret Culture of the IRS. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-88730-829-5.
• Johnston, David Cay (2003). Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else. New York: Portfolio. ISBN 1-59184-019-8.
• Rossotti, Charles O. (2005). Many Unhappy Returns: One Man's Quest To Turn Around The Most Unpopular Organization In America. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 1-59139-441-4.
• Roth, William V., Jr., Nixon, William H. (1999). The Power to Destroy. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 0-87113-748-8.

David Cay Johnston is an investigative journalist for The New York Times now focusing on taxes. ... Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else (ISBN 1591840198) is a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter David Cay Johnston that argues that the American tax system has been tilted to supplement the incomes and... William Victor Roth, Jr. ...

External links

• Internal Revenue Service Official website
• IRS Abuse Reports Claimed accounts of abuses against U.S. citizens by the IRS
• Tax Protester FAQ by Dan Evans rebuts claims of the illegitimacy of the income tax and the IRS
• Americans for Fair Tax argues for the replacement of the income tax with a consumption tax
• NonprofitLegalCenter.com Helpful Resources on 501(c)(3) Tax Exempt Status - Legal Assistance, Helpful Newsletter, and Links.
• IRS tax forms Description
• Internal Revenue Service Fan website for IRS with RSS News, Forums and RSS blogs.
• Tax Information for Nonprofit Corporations Tax rulings and information for Nonprofit Corporations
• IRS costs government $200 million for software error
• Fair Tax ScoreCard List of congressional leaders inclination regarding the Fair Tax