The Commissioner's Section

 

Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service

The Office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue was created by Congress on July 1, 1862. The Bureau of Internal Revenue was created to collect taxes used to finance the Civil War. The income tax was abolished after 10 years but the agency remained to collect other revenues. The income tax was reinstated in 1913.

Before RRA-98 set a five-year term of office, the average length of a Commissioner's tenure was about three years. These were anything but average.