Principal Deputy IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel testifies before the House Small Business Committee at a hearing on “The Internal Revenue Service And Small Businesses: Ensuring Fair Treatment” in Washington, July 17, 2013.
James Lawler Duggan | Reuters
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate confirmed Daniel Werfel on Thursday as the following commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, filling the important thing role just weeks before April’s 2022 income tax filing deadline.
President Joe Biden’s pick to guide the IRS won the support of nearly every Senate Democrat, plus a handful of Republicans. The one Democrat to oppose Werfel’s confirmation was West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.
One among Werfel’s priorities on the IRS will likely be ensuring that the wealthiest Americans pay their full tax bills.
“If I’m fortunate enough to be confirmed, the audit and compliance priorities will likely be focused on enhancing IRS’ capabilities to be sure that America’s highest earners comply with tax laws,” Werfel said in his confirmation hearing in February.
Following a directive from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Werfel also vowed that the IRS wouldn’t increase audit rates for small businesses and households making under $400,000, relative to recent years.
Yellen’s priorities for the agency largely revolve around taxpayer services, equivalent to clearing the backlog of unprocessed tax returns, improving customer support, overhauling technology and hiring staff.
Werfel will take the helm on the tax agency during a period of increased scrutiny, largely driven by the brand new Republican majority within the House. Of particular interest to the GOP is a provision in last 12 months’s Inflation Reduction Act, which funds the IRS with a further $80 billion over the following decade.
In January, Republicans within the House voted to rescind that funding of their first official vote as the bulk party. But without support from the Democratic-controlled Senate or the White House, the bill was largely symbolic, and never advanced beyond the House.
The House Ways and Means Committee announced last month that amongst its oversight priorities, the $80 billion IRS funding was “at the highest of the list,” in response to committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo. Â
The IRS can also be under fire over its failure up to now to satisfy a Feb. 17 deadline to submit a plan for the way it intends to make use of the brand new funding. The plan was requested by Yellen in August.
Senators who voted to substantiate Werfel have praised his experience in each government and the private sector.
“Confirming someone as qualified as Mr. Werfel as IRS commissioner is crucial to creating sure Americans take full advantage of all of the tax credits we approved last 12 months,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday on the Senate floor.
“Additionally it is crucial for deploying resources we approved to go after wealthy cheats and ensure middle-class families aren’t needlessly audited while those at the highest get by scot-free,” said Schumer.
 Currently a partner at Boston Consulting Group, Werfel served within the George W. Bush administration as acting controller of the Office of Management and Budget. Under Bush’s successor, President Barack Obama, Werfel was confirmed as full-time OMB controller. He later served as acting IRS commissioner in 2013.
