The Internal Revenue Service today announced several key leadership appointments as work continues implementing major provisions of the Taxpayer First Act. These leadership changes are part of a larger effort underway at the IRS to continue work on the Taxpayer First Act, which includes work to re-imagine the agency’s tax administration and work to improve taxpayer service and enforcement.
These appointments include:
- Douglas O’Donnell will serve as the new IRS Deputy Commissioner, Services and Enforcement. O’Donnell has been the Commissioner of the Large Business and International Division of the IRS (LB&I) since 2015, where he also served as the U.S. Competent Authority.
- Among other leadership changes, Sunita Lough will be returning to serve as the IRS Commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division (TEGE). Sunita Lough has served as the IRS Deputy Commissioner, Services and Enforcement, since September 2019. She is returning to her prior position as Commissioner of TEGE, a role she previously held from 2014 to 2019.
- Nikole Flax will take over as Commissioner of LB&I after serving as Deputy Commissioner of the division since 2017. She has held many key roles at the IRS including IRS Chief of Staff and Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement, among others.
- Holly Paz replaces Flax as Deputy Commissioner of LB&I. She is leaving her current role at LB&I as the Director of the Pass-Through Entities Practice Area, which supports all of LB&I with S Corporation and Partnership Specialty teams and the Ogden TEFRA Unit. She has held other key roles at the IRS including serving as the Director of Corporate Issues and Credits in LB&I’s Enterprise Activities Practice Area, among others.
- Edward Killen has been serving as Acting Commissioner of TE/GE and will return to the role of Deputy Commissioner of TE/GE. Prior to joining TEGE, Killen has held several leadership positions including the IRS Chief Privacy Officer and Senior Advisor to the IRS Deputy Commissioner of Operations Support, among others.