Saturday, September 5, 2015

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United States Department of the Treasury

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Department of the Treasury
US-DeptOfTheTreasury-Seal.svg
Flag of the United States Department of the Treasury.png
Treasury departement.jpg
Agency overview
FormedSeptember 2, 1789; 225 years ago
Preceding agency
  • Board of Treasury
JurisdictionFederal government of the United States
HeadquartersTreasury Building
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue,NW
Washington, D.C.
38°53′54″N 77°2′3″W
Employees115,897 (2007)
Annual budget$14 billion (2013) PDF
Agency executives
Child agencies
Websitetreasury.gov
The Department of the Treasury (DoT) is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue.[1] The Department is administered by the Secretary of the Treasury, who is a member of the Cabinet. Jacob J. Lew is the current Secretary of the Treasury; he was sworn in on February 28, 2013.
The first Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton, who was sworn into office on September 11, 1789. Hamilton was asked by President George Washington to serve after first having asked Robert Morris (who declined, recommending Hamilton instead). Hamilton almost single-handedly worked out the nation's early financial system, and for several years was a major presence in Washington's administration as well. His portrait is on the obverse of the U.S. ten-dollar bill while the Treasury Department building is shown on the reverse.
Besides the Secretary, one of the best-known Treasury officials is the Treasurer of the United States whose signature, along with the Treasury Secretary's, appears on all Federal Reserve notes.
The Treasury prints and mints all paper currency and coins in circulation through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Mint. The Department also collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, and manages U.S. government debt instruments.

History[edit]

The establishing act of congress passed in 1789, read in part,
...it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury ...to execute such services relative to the sale of the lands belonging to the United States, as may be by law required of him; to make report, and give information to either branch of the legislature, in person or in writing (as he may be required), respecting all matters referred to him by the Senate or House of Representatives, or which shall appertain to his office; and generally to perform all such services relative to the finances, as he shall be directed to perform.[2]
The current law, 31 U.S.C. § 301, reads as follows (in part):
(a) The Department of the Treasury is an executive department of the United States Government at the seat of the Government.
(b) The head of the Department is the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
President George Washington appointed Alexander Hamilton as the first United States Secretary of the Treasury on September 11, 1789. He left office on the last day of January 1795. Much of the structure of the government of the United States was worked out in those five years, beginning with the structure and function of the cabinet itself.
In the next two years, Hamilton submitted five reports:

2003 reorganization[edit]

Treasury Building
Congress transferred several agencies that had previously been under the aegis of the Treasury department to other departments as a consequence of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Effective January 24, 2003, theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), which had been a bureau of the Department since 1972, was extensively reorganized under the provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The law enforcementfunctions of ATF, including the regulation of legitimate traffic in firearms and explosives, were transferred to the Department of Justice as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE). The regulatory and tax collection functions of ATF related to legitimate traffic in alcohol and tobacco remained with the Treasury at its new Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
Effective March 1, 2003, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs Service, and the United States Secret Service were transferred to the newly created Department of Homeland Security ("DHS").

Responsibilities[edit]

Treasury Department official, surrounded by packages of newly minted currency, counting and wrapping dollar bills. Washington, D.C., 1907.
The basic functions of the Department of the Treasury mainly include:[3]
With respect to the estimation of revenues for the executive branch, Treasury serves a purpose parallel to that of the Office of Management and Budget for the estimation of spending for the executive branch, the Joint Committee on Taxation for the estimation of revenues for Congress, and the Congressional Budget Office for the estimation of spending for Congress.
From 1830 until 1901, the responsibility of overseeing weights and measures was carried out by the Office of Standard Weights and Measures, which was part of the U.S. Treasury Department.[4] After 1901, the responsibility was assigned to the agency that subsequently became known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Administrative materials[edit]

United States Department of the Treasury
Organization of the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury.
The Office of Foreign Assets Controland the main branch of the Treasury Department Federal Credit Union are located in the Treasury Annex in Washington, D.C.
"Eagle and Treasury Seal", made byUnited States Bureau of Engraving and Printing engraver John Eissler in 1921. The engraving was originally used on official Treasury letterheads.
As part of its administration of Federal tax, the Treasury issues a wide range of documents providing its interpretation of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), which each document having a varying level of weight for which the tax payer may rely:
  • Treasury Regulations reflect the Treasury's interpretation of the IRC, may be promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury, and when final they have "force of law" status. Congress can sometimes carve out areas in which the Treasury can actually make, not just interpret, the rules.[5]
  • Revenue Rulings are issued under the same statutory authority as regulations, but generally are just a response to a taxpayer's question about their own tax liability. Published Revenue Rulings are released in the weeklyInternal Revenue Bulletin and, in the past, in the semi-annual Cumulative Bulletin; they do not have the force or effect of regulations, but nonetheless may be cited and used by the public. Private Letter Rulings are also the IRS' response to a specific taxpayer's question regarding the tax consequences of a particular transaction and can be made public upon request. Although they may not be relied on by anyone other than the taxpayer that requested it, they are still useful for tax planning purposes.
  • A Revenue Procedure is a statement of the Treasury's practice and procedures, and generally deals with a broad subject area.

Organization[edit]

Structure[edit]

Seal on United States Department of the Treasury on the Building
The Office of the General Counsel is charged with supervising all legal proceedings involving the collection of debts due the United States, establishing regulations to guide customs collectors, issuing distress warrants against delinquent revenue collectors or receivers of public money, examining Treasury officers' official bonds and related legal documents, serving as legal adviser to the department and administered lands acquired by the United States in payment for debts. This office was preceded by the offices of the Comptroller of the Treasury (1789–1817), First Comptroller of the Treasury (1817–20), Agent of the Treasury (1820–30), and Solicitor of the Treasury1830–1934.

Budget and staffing[edit]

The Treasury Department was authorized a budget for Fiscal Year 2015 of $22.6 billion. The budget authorization is broken down as follows:[10]
ProgramFunding (in millions)Employees (in FTEs)
Management and Finance
Department Administration$3111,320
Office of the Inspector General$35213
Inspector General for Tax Administration$157837
Special Inspector General for TARP$34192
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund$22573
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network$108346
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau$101517
Bureau of the Fiscal Services$3482,350
Tax Administration
Internal Revenue Service$12,47692,009
International Programs
International Programs$2,6100
Non-Appropriated Bureaus
Office of Fiscal Stability$18486
Small Business Lending Programs$1725
State Small Business Credit Initiative$712
Financial Stability Oversight Council$2026
Office of Financial Research$92249
Bureau of Engraving and Printing$7491,944
United States Mint$3,5711,874
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency$1,1043,997
TOTAL$22,583106,080

See also[edit]


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