That man is Beverly Hills, Calif., tax attorney and member of the Academy of Magical Arts, Charles “Chuck” Rettig.
The Hill reported last Friday that the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing scheduled for June 28 to consider Rettig’s nomination to be the next IRS commissioner. Rettig was nominated by President Trump earlier this year to lead the IRS.
If confirmed, Rettig will be tasked with overseeing the implementation of the new GOP tax-cut law Trump signed last year and will watch over the first tax-filing season under the new code.
He would also oversee an agency that is facing a number of technology and cybersecurity challenges.
[Going Concern correspondent Megan Lewczyk, CPA, recently wrote about the outdated legacy system used by the IRS.]
The Los Angeles Times noted that, if confirmed, Rettig would be the first IRS commissioner in decades to come from the tax world.
For 35 years, he’s been with the Beverly Hills law firm Hochman Salkin Rettig Toscher & Perez, known in the industry as a controversy firm – one that focuses on representing taxpayers in disputes with the IRS or state tax agencies.
And though the nature of his practice is such that he and the IRS are typically on opposite sides, he has also been a longtime member of committees that advise the IRS as well as the California Franchise Tax Board. Attorneys who know Rettig say he has a deep respect for the agency and for the tax system.
With changes of this magnitude to the tax code, I hope, for his sake, he has lots and lots of patience, too.
Image: iStock/Pgiam
