The U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have announced the appointment of Ms. Erin M. Collins to serve as the new National Taxpayer Advocate.
Ms. Collins has a distinguished career in tax law, beginning as an attorney in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, where she worked for about 15 years. An alumnus of the University of California, Irvine, and the Southwestern School of Law, Ms. Collins served as Industry Counsel for Savings and Loans during the time of the S&L crisis. She also served as a Special Trial Attorney, where she was responsible for the development and litigation of high-profile, complex tax cases. Among other notable achievements, Ms. Collins is a two-time recipient of Chief Counsel’s highest award, the National Litigation Award.
The newly appointed National Taxpayer Advocate also has a strong passion for community service. Ms. Collins’ activism has focused on inspiring professional women to motivate teen girls from under-resourced communities through mentorship programs to fulfill the teens’ potential and to empower them to become confident, college-bound, career-focused, and ready to join the next generation of professional women. Ms. Collins has donated her time and energies to nonprofit boards focusing on communities where English is typically the second language spoken at home. Recently, she has represented several taxpayers on a pro bono basis in resolving problems with the IRS.
Throughout her career, Ms. Collins has represented individuals, partnerships and corporate taxpayers on technical and procedural tax matters. For 20 years, she worked at KPMG, overseeing its tax controversy practice for the Western region as the Tax Managing Director. She has spoken frequently on IRS practice, procedure, controversy and litigation matters and is co-author of the Practising Law Institute’s Internal Revenue Service Practice and Procedure Deskbook.
“I am deeply honored to join the talented team at the IRS as the National Taxpayer Advocate and thank Secretary Mnuchin and Commissioner Rettig for the trust they have placed in me,” Ms. Collins said. “I will work every day to be a strong and effective representative of American taxpayers.”
