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This mission statement describes IRS' role and the public’s expectation about how they should perform that role.

In the United States, the Congress passes tax laws and requires taxpayers to comply.
The taxpayer’s role is to understand and meet his or her tax obligations.
The IRS role is to help the large majority of compliant taxpayers with the tax law, while ensuring that the minority who are unwilling to comply pay their fair share.

Section 7803 of the Internal Revenue Code provides for the appointment of a commissioner of Internal Revenue to administer and supervise the execution and application of the internal revenue laws.

The Internal Revenue Service is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The Commissioner has general superintendence of the assessment and collection of all taxes imposed by any law providing internal revenue. The Internal Revenue Service is the agency by which these functions are performed.

The IRS, and in particular the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), has on more than one occasion been accused of abusive behavior. Statements given in hearings before the Senate Finance Committee criticize the IRS:

” Does the IRS correct abuses when they become aware of them? Oftentimes, they do. However, the more important question is, does the IRS cover up occurrences of abuse? The answer is, yes! If the true number of incidences of taxpayer abuse were ever known, the public would be appalled. If the public also ever knew the number of abuses "covered up" by the IRS, there could be a tax revolt. “

Congress passed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights III on July 22, 1998, which shifted the burden of proof from the taxpayer to the IRS in certain limited situations. The IRS retains the legal authority to enforce liens and seize assets without obtaining judgment in court.

IRS building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C..Allegations of insidious conduct by the IRS are found in the movie America: From Freedom to Fascism (Watch Movie), directed by Libertarian filmmaker Aaron Russo. The movie alleges that the IRS is part of a plot to make the United States a police state. See also Tax protester conspiracy arguments.

Attorney Michael Minns has asserted that the IRS often destroys the lives of those it targets with no regard for their personal lives or reputations, or that of their families.[citation needed] Minns was the defense lawyer in a case against the IRS on behalf of James and Pamela Moran after an initial indictment and what Minns asserts was an IRS smear campaign that virtually canvassed the taxpayers' own hometown and surrounding area. The original indictment was associated with the Morans' involvement with a tax shelter provider, Anderson's Ark & Associates. The Morans were eventually acquitted in the case.

Attorney Michael Minns asserted that the behavior of two IRS attorneys, Kenneth McWade and William A. Sims, constituted legal misconduct. Following an investigation, the law licenses of the IRS attorneys were suspended for a two year period after a federal court ruling that the two had defrauded the courts in connection with 1,300 tax shelter cases. In 2003, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded that the IRS lawyers had corruptly agreed with certain taxpayers that no tax collection actions would be taken against them - in return for testimony against other taxpayers. The court also asked why the IRS had not punished the two.

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