Morgante, Watson to Lead Largest IRS Division

WASHINGTON - Richard J. Morgante and Pamela G. Watson have been named to the top two posts in the Wage and Investment (W&I) Division, the IRS unit that serves most individual taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service announced today.

Morgante, currently the division’s deputy commissioner, will move up to W&I commissioner, and Watson, now the division’s compliance director, will succeed him as W&I’s second highest executive. Both appointments will take effect in early July.

Morgante began his IRS career in 1975 as a Taxpayer Service Representative in Syracuse, N.Y. He has held executive positions on the local level in Los Angeles and New Orleans, and on the national level, where he has served as director for economic analysis, budget director, director of management and finance in the Small Business/Self Employed Division and deputy commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division before becoming deputy commissioner of W&I in June 2004.

“Rich is a strong leader familiar with many parts of the IRS,” said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. “He is well prepared to take over W&I, a cornerstone of our operations and the face of the IRS to the vast majority of taxpayers.”

Morgante succeeds Henry Lamar who is retiring after 34 years with the IRS, the last two as W&I commissioner. “Henry’s leadership helped us deliver a very successful tax-filing season this year, and I want to personally thank him for his many years of dedicated service to America’s taxpayers,” Everson said.

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Morgante holds a degree in philosophy and theology from St. John Vianney Seminary in East Aurora, N.Y., a certificate in public administration from the University of Southern California and a certificate in financial management from George Washington University.

Watson began her IRS career in 1978 in Jackson, Miss. where she held various collection-related technical and managerial positions. Starting in 1985, she held a series of increasingly responsible positions in Atlanta and Washington in which she managed various collection, taxpayer service and return processing functions. In 2001, she joined the W&I executive team, first serving as senior advisor to the W&I commissioner and then as director of filing and payment compliance, before becoming compliance director in August 2004.

“Rich and Pam make a strong team, and their leadership and experience will help us effectively serve taxpayers and enforce the law,” Everson said.

Based in Atlanta, W&I has processing and customer service responsibility for virtually all taxpayers, processing approximately 175 million paper and electronic returns for individuals and businesses last year, answering 67.3 million automated and assistor calls and serving over 7 million customers face-to-face.

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