THE DAILY FED
IRS Chief to Step Down
Richardson, IRS chief since May 1993, has overseen difficult changes for her embattled agency. Personnel cuts, modernization problems, and reduced funding have made her tenure rocky.
High points of Richardson's time as commissioner included the start of the TeleFile system, which enabled 3 million taxpayers to file their taxes by phone in 1996, the unveiling of the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, which will enable millions of business and individual taxpayers to make their federal tax deposits quickly and easily using a telephone or a personal computer, and the launch of the IRS Web site, which recorded 100 million hits in its first ten months of operation.
"This is an appropriate time for me to pursue other career opportunities and allow the selection of a successor who could serve during [President Clinton's] full second term," Richardson said in a letter to the President.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), a member of the Senate Finance Committee and the commission on restructuring the IRS, called for a business-oriented successor for Richardson, who is a tax lawyer.
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