November 18, 1999 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The news that two top officials will leave the I.R.S.’s Exempt Organizations Division has stirred concern among non-profit tax experts about the ability of the federal government to regulate charities, at least in the short run.
Marc Owens, director of the Exempt Organizations Division since 1990, will leave the agency after nearly 25 years to seek a job at a law or accounting firm. Jay Rotz, who served as Mr. Owens’s executive assistant, will take a job at George Washington University.
The departures come as the I.R.S. embarks on a major reorganization. The tax agency will consolidate its bureaucracy into four units, one of which, the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, will focus on charity regulation and other matters.
Paul Streckfus, a former revenue-service lawyer who is editor of the EO Tax Journal, said that Mr. Owens’ retirement will be “a killer for I.R.S. credibility.” Mr. Owens, who made frequent public speeches to explain the service’s plans and goals, treated non-profit representatives and the press “with integrity and openness,” wrote Mr. Streckfus. “With his departure, it may be time to play taps over the exempt organizations’ function at the I.R.S..”
Carolyn D. Wright, editor of The Exempt Organization Tax Review, noted that none of the three officials named by the I.R.S. to the highest positions in the new unit are specialists in issues affecting tax-exempt groups. “While each of these women might well be the best person for the job, one has to wonder whether the EO Division will receive the attention it needs with non-EO people occupying the top jobs,” wrote Ms. Wright.
Mr. Owens said his decision to retire was “purely personal.” The tax agency’s reorganization gave him the opportunity, under civil-service rules, to retire early with good benefits, he said, and to seek a job that will help his family put three children through college.
Mr. Owens said that a restructured I.R.S. has the potential to succeed if the agency gets enough budget money. “The key factor under any organizational structure in government these days,” he said, “is whether you are going to have the resources to make it work.”
