(Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will nominate Daniel Werfel to be the next commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax agency, succeeding Charles Rettig whose term ends on Saturday, the White House said on Thursday.
Werfel previously served as acting commissioner of the body in 2013, when the White House said he “provided immediate stability to the IRS, effectively responding to numerous Congressional investigations.”
The IRS faces a number of challenges including a recent partisan divide over the hiring of new agents.
New hires over the next decade will mainly replace retiring older employees, answer taxpayer questions and program new computers, U.S. Treasury officials and tax experts have said, responding to Republican claims that the IRS will recruit 87,000 new agents to harass Americans on their taxes.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said he would work with lawmakers to ensure Werfel was confirmed for the new role as quickly as possible.
He said was confident that Werfel was committed to rebuilding the IRS, modernizing its technology and ensuring that “the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations pay the taxes they owe.”
In August, an internal Treasury memo showed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen directed the organization to produce within six months a detailed plan for deploying $80 billion in newly enacted enforcement funding.
Yellen said on Thursday she strongly backed Werfel’s nomination.
“After decades of underfunding, the IRS now has the resources it needs to improve services for taxpayers and modernize outdated technology and infrastructure,” she said.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Matthew Lewis)