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President Biden Announces IRS Chief Counsel Nominee

On June 2, 2023, US President Joe Biden announced that he has picked Marjorie Rollinson as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Chief Counsel, the top attorney position at the IRS. Rollinson has had a distinguished career in tax service, both in the public and private sectors, and would be the first woman to serve in the role if confirmed by the US Senate. She began her career at Ernst & Young (EY) in 1987, became a partner in 1997 and was eventually named Deputy Director of the National Tax Department where she also led the International Tax Technical Committee.

In 2013, she left EY and joined the Office of Chief Counsel as the Technical Deputy Associate Chief Counsel in the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel International. In 2016, she was named Associate Chief Counsel International where she oversaw 100 tax lawyers responsible for issuing published guidance and providing technical guidance.

Practice Point: The Chief Counsel position has been vacant since Michael Desmond stepped down on January 20, 2021. It took nearly a year for the Senate to confirm his appointment. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden made a statement that he hopes the Senate will be able to process the nomination quickly given the complexity and demands of leading the IRS’s legal team.




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President Biden to Nominate New IRS Commissioner

On November 10, 2022, US President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Danny Werfel to serve as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen has expressed her support for Werfel’s nomination. Charles Rettig, whose term expires on November 12, 2022, is the current IRS Commissioner and Doug O’Donnell has been selected to serve as acting IRS Commissioner until the position is formally filled.

The White House press release provides the following background on Werfel:

Danny Werfel is a public and private sector leader who has served under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Across more than 15 years of government service, Werfel served President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush to lead some of the governments’ most complex management challenges as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Acting Commissioner and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Controller. In the wake of an Inspector General report alleging various forms of mismanagement and bias in the determination of tax-exempt status for non-profit organizations, President Obama appointed Werfel to serve as Acting Commissioner of IRS in 2013. Werfel provided immediate stability to the IRS, effectively responding to numerous Congressional investigations, successfully launching the Affordable Care Act technology that IRS was responsible for, and navigated the IRS through a multi-week government shutdown. At the end of his tenure, both the majority and minority leaders of the Senate Finance Committee publicly recognized his contribution and performance. As OMB Controller, Werfel successfully led a cross-government effort to ensure the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was implemented transparently and with minimal fraud or error. He also led the government-wide efforts to prepare for and implement the budget sequester of FY2013. Werfel played a key role under the Bush Administration in the implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, overseeing the efforts of the Office of Financial Stability to achieve a clean financial statement audit in its first year of existence.

 

Werfel has spent the last nine years at Boston Consulting Group where he helped launch their U.S. public sector practice. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations (with honors) from Cornell University, a Juris Doctor (with honors) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a Master of Public Policy from Duke University. Werfel lives in the District of Columbia with his wife and two children.




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Weekly IRS Roundup January 25 – January 29, 2021

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of January 25, 2021 – January 29, 2021. Additionally, for continuing updates on the tax impact of COVID-19, please visit our resource page here.

On January 20, President Biden’s chief of staff, Ronald Klain, issued a memorandum freezing the publication of rules in the Federal Register pending additional review by presidential designees or appointees. As a result, there may be delays in the official publication of pending IRS actions.

January 29, 2021: The IRS released its weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandums and Chief Counsel Advice).

January 29, 2021: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2021-5, dated February 1, 2021, containing the following highlights: REG-115057-20 (Administrative); Notice 2021-9 (Employee Plans); Rev. Rul. 2021-3 (Employee Plans); REG-111950-20 (Income Tax); Rev. Proc. 2021-12 (Income Tax); TD 9936 (Income Tax); TD 9943 (Income Tax); TD 9945 (Income Tax).

Special thanks to Brian Moore in our Washington, DC, office for this week’s roundup.




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Weekly IRS Roundup January 18 – January 22, 2021

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of January 18, 2021 – January 22, 2021. Additionally, for continuing updates on the tax impact of COVID-19, please visit our resource page here.

On January 20, President Biden’s chief of staff, Ronald Klain, issued a memorandum freezing the publication of rules in the Federal Register pending additional review by presidential designees or appointees. As a result, there may be delays in the official publication of pending IRS actions.

January 19, 2021: The IRS released Notice 21-08 providing a waiver of the addition to tax for underpayment of estimated income tax by individual taxpayers, where the underpayment is attributable to the amendment to section 461(l)(1)(B) contained in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

January 19, 2021: The IRS issued Rev. Rul. 21-04 updating the applicable federal rate and various other prescribed rates for February 2021.

January 19, 2021: The IRS issued Notice 21-09 updating weighted average interest rates, yield curves and segment rates.

January 19, 2021: The IRS released Notice 21-06 waiving the requirement to file information returns or furnish payee statements related to certain COVID-19 relief programs.

January 19, 2021: The IRS posted Notice 21-11 extending relief for employers to withhold and pay certain taxes because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

January 19, 2021: The IRS posted Notice 21-10 extending and providing additional relief for Qualified Opportunity Funds and their investors because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

January 19, 2021: The IRS announced Notice 21-13 providing relief for partnerships from certain penalties related to the reporting of partners’ beginning capital account balances.

January 22, 2021: The IRS released its weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandums and Chief Counsel Advice).

January 22, 2021: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2021-4, dated January 25, 2021, containing the following highlights: Rev. Proc. 2021-8 (Exempt Organizations); TD 9937 (Employee Plans); Rev. Proc. 2021-10 (Income Tax); Rev. Rul. 2021-2 (Income Tax); Ann. 2021-1 (Tax Conventions).

Special thanks to Brian Moore in our Washington, DC, office for this week’s roundup.




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