Commissioner Announces High-Wealth Taxpayers Group

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman addressed the AICPA’s National Tax Conference in Washington, DC, on October 26. During his speech, Shulman announced the formation of a global high-wealth industry group within the IRS’s Large and Mid-Size Business (LMSB) division.

This group will centralize and focus the IRS’s compliance efforts involving high-wealth individuals and their businesses. It will allow the IRS to take a unified look at all the business enterprises controlled by a high-wealth individual and better understand that individual’s entire economic picture. While the group will be housed in LMSB, its mission will necessarily touch upon other IRS operating divisions, Shulman said, because one wealthy individual’s complex financial arrangements may include entities that fall under various IRS divisions.

Shulman said the IRS has already started hiring agents and some specialists for this new group. It will begin with a small number of examinations using an enterprise or integrated approach. He anticipates that the group will grow in the future.