History, Duties and Functions
What are the duties and
functions of the Treasury Department?
What is the Treasury
Department's budget and how many people work
there?
What do the symbols on the
Treasury Seal mean?
Why was the United States Secret Service a part
of the Treasury Department?
When was the Internal Revenue Service created and
what law established it?
 The Treasury Department includes
the Office of the Secretary and the Departmental
Offices. This is where all of the
policy-making offices are found. Each office
has an Assistant Secretary directly
responsible for its activities. In addition,
there are many bureaus with different
responsibilities. We have available on line
a
brief description of each bureau's
functions. You can also find out more
detailed information by visiting any of the
Bureau Home Pages.
For instance, the Bureau
of Engraving and Printing (BEP) makes our paper currency and
the United States Mint
produces our coins. The Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) collects income taxes and other forms of Federal Government
revenue. Maintaining the Federal Government's accounts is the
job of the Financial Management
Service (FMS). Processing the sale and redemption of Treasury
bonds, notes and bills is the responsibility of the Bureau of the Public
Debt. Finally, the Treasury must oversee and regulate savings
institutions and National banks. The Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency (OCC) and the Office
of Thrift Supervision (OTS) each handle these tasks.
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For Fiscal Year 2003, the Treasury Department and
its bureaus employed approximately 116,675 full-time civilian
employees with a combined budget authority of $11.1 billion (debt
financing and tax credits account for another $357.7 billion,
for a total of $368.8 billion.) The Office of Management and Budget
publishes The Budget of the United States Government every
year. Because it is not a Treasury Department publication, we
do not have copies available for distribution. The current Fiscal
Year budget should be available for review at large public libraries.
It is also available for sale from the Government Printing Office
(GPO) or free-of-charge on-line (www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html).
It contains a section for each Federal Department or agency.
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We have information available
on-line that will tell you about
the history of the present Treasury Seal
and its predecessor. It will also explain the
symbolism of the Seal's various
components.
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During the Civil War, approximately
one-third of all the currency in circulation
was counterfeit. There were then about 1,600
state banks designing and printing their own
notes. There were approximately 4,000
varieties of counterfeit notes and 7,000
varieties of genuine notes. This made it
difficult to detect a counterfeit note from a
genuine note. Officials believed that the
adoption of a national currency in 1863 would
solve the counterfeiting problem. The
national currency, too, was soon
counterfeited. It became necessary for the
Government to take enforcement measures
because this currency circulated so
extensively. As a result, the
Secret Service became a bureau of the
Treasury Department on July
5, 1865, with its major responsibility
being the suppression of counterfeiting.
Public sentiment after the assassination of President William
McKinley in 1901 demanded better protection of our leaders. The
Secret
Service was the only law enforcement agency of the Federal
Government then. That is why it was logical to place the protection
of the President under its jurisdiction. This important mission
officially became a permanent responsibility of the Secret
Service in 1906. The duties of the Secret Service now also
include protecting various other important individuals.
In March 2003, the United States Secret Service (USSS) moved
to the Department of Homeland Security and is no longer a bureau
of the Department of the Treasury.
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 When was the Internal Revenue Service created
and what law established it?
The Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) is a division of
the Treasury Department. On July
1, 1862, Congress passed a law (12 Stat.
432; 26 U.S.C. 7802) establishing it as the
Bureau of Internal Revenue. In 1953 following
a reorganization of its function, its name
became the Internal Revenue Service. The new
name was chosen to stress the service aspect
of the work it does. The IRS is responsible
for administering and enforcing the Internal
Revenue laws and related statutes, except
those relating to alcohol, tobacco, firearms,
and explosives.
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