Tax Quarry

As part of my monthly Who’s Who in Tax feature I typically like to interview someone who has made, or is trying to build, a career in tax advising, planning or regulatory enforcement.  The source of this month’s feature is a little bit different.  J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, has such a prominent presence on the www.dot circuit that I thought I would summarize what the web has to say about him.  Since 2004, Mr. George has been the Treasure Inspector General for Tax Administration.  Although the majority of his career has been in government service, he spent some time in the grind of private practice as an attorney at Kramer, Levin, Naftalis, Nessen, Kamin & Frankel.  A Howard University alumnus and a Harvard University Law School graduate, like his fellow top 100 member Barack Obama, George has paved the way for many aspiring minorities who are interested in pursuing a career as a public servant.   

As one of the top 100 most influential people in 2011, accountingTODAY says: 

Frankly, we can’t keep up with J. Russell George.  His IRS watchdog’s countless carefully analyzed reports and recommendations delve into every aspect of the tax agency’s operations – even to the point of recently analyzing the effectiveness of the other IRS watchdog, the Taxpayer Advocate.

George has this to say about what he does as Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration:

An inspector general is not another general counsel of an organization. The IG function is to identify waste, fraud and abuse and advise both the agency head, as well as Congress, on his or her findings with the goal of stemming inappropriate activity and helping to avoid its recurrence

Mr. George, we are happy to have someone as conscientious, diligent and thoughtful as you in the position of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.  We are looking forward to seeing where your career brings you next.

By Marsha Henry
May 2010 ©