term of the IRS commissioner

[Rapid Robert]

Somewhere recently I read that Rettig's term was going to be up before the end of this year, so I went to Wikipedia to learn more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioner_of_Internal_Revenue

It says the term is five years and so it would normally end in late 2023, not 2022. But then you look at the actual term served by a number of prior commissioners, and many of them served less than five years, often four years or less (such as Rettig's predecessor, Koskinen). This goes back at least few decades, and you can see there are many Acting Commissioners serving short terms.

Has Rettig indicated that he is resigning prior to the end of this term? Is there some reason why few commissioners serve the full five year term? (politics, I suppose, but anything else?)

Can the commissioner be removed from office by any method other than impeachment and conviction? Such as, the president or Secty of the Treasury wishes it?

[New York Enrolled Agent]

Somewhere recently I read that Rettig's term was going to be up before the end of this year, so I went to Wikipedia to learn more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioner_of_Internal_Revenue

It says the term is five years and so it would normally end in late 2023, not 2022. But then you look at the actual term served by a number of prior commissioners, and many of them served less than five years, often four years or less (such as Rettig's predecessor, Koskinen). This goes back at least few decades, and you can see there are many Acting Commissioners serving short terms.

Has Rettig indicated that he is resigning prior to the end of this term? Is there some reason why few commissioners serve the full five year term? (politics, I suppose, but anything else?)

Can the commissioner be removed from office by any method other than impeachment and conviction? Such as, the president or Secty of the Treasury wishes it?

You need to look at IRC 7803. The term is a 5-year term but it’s always measured from 11/13/1997. Ending of the term is 11/12/02, 11/12/07, 11/12/12, 11/12/17, 11/12/22. The term is 5 years but if someone starts after the beginning of the term it still ends on the November date.

The Commissioner serves ar the will of the President. Take a look at the section.

[Rapid Robert]

Thank you. I should have spent more time on the Wikipedia page; of course they provide links to the relevant law, regs, etc. but I didn't notice them at first.

It's very interesting at what a huge difference there is between the IRS commissioner and the Postmaster General (PMG).

IRS: "The Commissioner is appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate, for a five-year term."

US Postal Service: "The PMG is selected and appointed by the Board of Governors of the Postal Service, the members of which are appointed by the president of the United States, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The postmaster general then also sits on the board. The PMG does not serve at the pleasure of the president, and can be dismissed by the Board of Governors.^[3] The appointment of the postmaster general does not require Senate confirmation." There is no fixed term for the PMG.

I have to wonder, is there any non-political organization anywhere in the U.S. (corporations, non-partisan government, non-profit) anywhere near the size of the IRS where the top person only serves for five years or less? No one talks about how that cripples the effectiveness of leadership, when everyone knows the commissioner is a lame duck from almost the day they start (which is usually up to a year after the statutory start date, so as history shows, typically the term is only about 4 years).