Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service is the branch of the US federal government that is charged with the assessment and collection of taxes. The Internal Revenue Service performs a number of closely related functions, such as resolution of tax disputes, taxpayer return preparation assistance, and publication of extensive statistics. The Internal Revenue Service needs over 100,000 employees to carry out its duties, given the much maligned and complex US tax code. The roots of the Internal Revenue Service go back to the Civil War, although not until 1916 did Congress pass the Sixteenth Amendment, authorizing a permanent income tax. The Internal Revenue Service had been called the Bureau of Internal Revenue prior to reorganization in the 1950s. A more recent modernization of the Internal Revenue Service was initiated with the passage of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. In addition the Internal Revenue Service, each of the 50 states and most municipalities assess and collect taxes of their own. The Internal Revenue Service is usually called the IRS.