Senate Finance Committee Approves Shulman Nomination

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

12 March 2008

The nomination of Douglas H. Shulman for Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been approved by the Senate Finance Committee, but Senators have warned the prospective IRS chief that he faces multiple challenges in areas such as administration and compliance.

Shulman's nomination was unanimously approved by the committee on March 6th, and the nomination now moves to the full Senate for approval.

During his appearance before the Finance panel on January 29th, committee Chairman Max Baucus (D - Mon) and other panel members questioned Shulman about the challenges he would face as incoming Commissioner of the IRS, including the agency’s ability to implement the recently passed economic stimulus package, the need to capture the billions of dollars in legally owed but unpaid taxes known as the tax gap, and the issue of outdated IRS customer service technologies.

“If the Senate votes to confirm Mr Shulman, he will have to hit the ground running. Mr Shulman has a big job ahead of him, beginning with the very important task of making sure that economic stimulus checks get to millions of Americans in a timely manner,” Baucus commented.

“We will support his efforts and the needs of the agency, but it will ultimately fall to him and to the IRS as a whole to improve service and the overall IRS experience for American taxpayers," he added.

Shulman, who has been described by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as a "highly capable executive", currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, previously known as the National Association of Securities Dealers.

"His experience as Senior Policy Advisor and Chief of Staff on the National Commission on Restructuring the IRS provides him with fundamental knowledge of the IRS and its critical responsibility of administering the tax code," Paulson commented at the time of Shulman's initial nomination by President Bush, last November.

Earlier in his career, Shulman served as Vice President of Darby Overseas Investments. Prior to this he served as Senior Policy Advisor and later Chief of Staff of the bi-partisan commission on restructuring the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS has not had a permanent Commissioner since Mark Everson left to lead the American Red Cross in May.

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