 internal revenue service IRS tax news IRS selects new leadership for small business and self-employed division uh-oh that's always a little scary new leadership often feeling the need to prove themselves by cracking a few small business and self-employed people's skulls metaphorically speaking just like that mean old principal in the breakfast club I don't want to hear any noise or see any profits going on in here and if I do the next time I have to come in I'm cracking skulls what's the breakfast club yeah never mind I are 2022-95 April 27 2022 Washington the internal revenue service today announced that experienced agency executive Leah Colbert is that you Colbert I don't know Leah Colbert I'm sure she's diligent and experienced for the job or I would assume so Leah Colbert have been named the new commissioner of the small business self-employed division the SB-SE which oversees the agency's collection activities and the examinations of most businesses in the United States quote this is a crucial position for the IRS and Leah's background provides a unique perspective for this important role in quotes that IRS Commissioner Chuck Reddick quote this area is critical to ensuring fair enforcement of our nation's tax laws while respecting taxpayers rights in addition this area is a key place for the agency to find ways to improve the taxpayer experience not just for individuals who interact with this area but also for tax professionals that handle enforcement related issues end quote the IRS also announced that Maha Williams has been selected to act as the deputy commissioner SB-SE examination to fill in for Daylone Harris who is retired at the end of April Darren Gallat will continue to serve as deputy commissioner SB-SE collection and operations support so I must admit that I don't know anything about these individuals their experience or background might be interesting to dig into that a bit more here but in any case Colbert replaces Eric Hilton who was SB-SE commissioner when he left the agency about a year ago Harris and Gallat served as interim co-commissioners during that time in her new role Colbert will be responsible for providing executive leadership and direction to a nationwide staff of approximately 20 million employees these employees are responsible for the design development and delivery of a comprehensive tax administration program this program touches more than 57 million small business owners and self-employed taxpayers with business interest having less than 10 million in assets so I hope she's good I hope she's taking care of those small businesses and what not furthermore Colbert and the SB-SE deputy commissioners will work closely with employees managers and executives across the division to review current operations and strategize improvement opportunities by looking deeply into experience experiences faced by nations taxpayers and IRS employees in this ever-changing pandemic environment Williams will be responsible for providing executive expertise and direction for special projects covering major sections of SB-SE including campus exam automated under the reporter AUR field exam specialty exam headquarters exam and exam performance and planning analysis she will also oversee the office of promoter investigations the OPI which provides support for all IRS efforts in identifying abusive tax transactions tax schemes and emerging abusive arrangements Colbert's most recent role at the IRS was deputy chief appeals prior to that she was IRS chief of staff and executive lead of the team that drafted the taxpayer first act report to Congress she I think we went over that report it would it actually had some good some good stuff in it to improve the workings of the IRS I believe if I'm remember in that particular report correctly so that that's good sign she also has held several senior leadership and executive roles within appeals and the human capital office she started her career at the IRS as a revenue officer before becoming a settlement officer in appeals quote Leah is a strong leader with an excellent taxpayer experience perspective a proven track record of working well with internal and external partners and deep people development skills in quotes at IRS deputy commissioner services enforcement Douglas O'Donnell quote we are moving forward to implement the vision outlined in the taxpayer first act report to Congress and Leah will be a strong addition to the services and enforcement leadership team in that effort the IRS the IRS will be well served with Leah maha and Darren in these pivotal roles in quote maha began her career as a revenue agent in Tampa in 2001 she has held various management positions in SB dash SE including deputy director examination director field and campus policy and director case selection she is a 2018 graduate of the of the candidate development program earned her bachelor's degree in accounting from the state University of New York at Pittsburgh and is a certified public accountant so interesting developments over there at at the IRS mixing things up changing things up new roles happening hopefully these people aren't going to go in there and try to prove themselves by cracking small business and self-employed people skulls too much but we'll see and I don't think there's any links here but there'll be a link to this in the description anyways if you want to check it out more