WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service announced the appointments of Christopher Wagner as the commissioner of the agency’s Small Business and Self Employed Division (SB/SE), and Faris Fink as the deputy commissioner.

SB/SE is one of four operating divisions of the IRS, has about 28,000 employees and serves roughly 55 million taxpayers. SB/SE is a major part of IRS enforcement activities, focusing on promoters of abusive tax schemes, high-income non-filers and other serious tax compliance issues.

Wagner was previously the deputy commissioner of SB/SE. He replaces Kathy Petronchak, who retired in August 2008. Fink was previously director for the Midwest Area, Examination, which is responsible for all examination matters in 10 states.

Wagner has also previously served as the deputy commissioner of Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, which is another division of IRS. He has also served as deputy National Taxpayer Advocate for the Taxpayer Advocate Service.