GLOSSARY

What is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)?

Updated: November 11, 2024

IRS definition and meaning

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is a department of the US federal government responsible for the collection of taxes – primarily income tax – from businesses and individuals. It also administers the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax law enacted by Congress. It is a Bureau of the US Department of the Treasury.

 

More about the IRS

Not only is the IRS responsible for processing tax returns and providing taxpayer services, they also audit taxpayer returns, conduct criminal investigations and enforce taxation laws in the US.

 

Who runs the IRS?

The IRS is part of the Department of the Treasury and run by Charles P. Rettig, who currently serves as the 49th Commissioner of the IRS.

 

Using IRS in a sentence

“People generally don’t like to pay taxes, so the IRS gets a bad rap, even though they’re basically just accountants with no power over tax rates.”

 

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