Meeting with the IRS

Recently, I received an email inviting me to attend a presentation by the IRS at Law School. When I received the invitation, I was rather busy, so I didn’t think much about it but I marked October 25^th on my calendar. This afternoon, I entered a boardroom at Law School where I was welcomed by a friendly gentleman holding out his hand and greeting me, “Hi, I’m Don Korb.” The name rang a bell, but I couldn’t place from where. The two of us made small talk for a few minutes, mostly about the rainy weather we are having today here in New York. After a few minutes, the ten of us sat around the board table and Mr. Korb began his presentation. That’s when the lights went off in my mind—this was Donald Korb, the Senior Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service (i.e., the big boss).

President Bush nominated Donald Korb to the office of chief counsel in 2003, and he was confirmed by the Senate. He is the chief law officer for the IRS and an assistant general counsel for the Treasury. The chief counsel supervises more than 1,550 attorneys who are assigned among the IRS National Office and the major operational divisions of the agency. The chief counsel’s office plays a central role in the Administration of the federal tax laws. Its attorneys provide guidance on the correct legal interpretation of the tax laws, represent the IRS in litigation, and provide all other legal support the IRS needs to carry out its mission of serving American taxpayers.

As he sat with the ten of us around the table he explained that he would like us to consider joining their tax policy department were we could actually write the law, by writing published Revenue Rulings explaining and interpreting the tax code. I suppose this just proves my status as a tax nerd, but I am still in awe that I sat next to the chief counsel of the IRS while he explained why I should consider working on his staff.