The IRS has anounced two high level appointments:

• IR-2006-065:  Kathy Petronchak has been appointed Chief of Staff, replacing Evelyn Petschek, effective June 7:

As Chief of Staff, Petronchak will assist the Commissioner in overseeing the performance of IRS operations and planning the strategic direction of IRS programs. She will also provide counsel to the Commissioner and other top IRS executives with regard to a wide variety of matters facing the agency.

Petronchak was appointed to her current position as Director, Pre-Filing and Technical Guidance for the Large and Mid-Size Business (LMSB) Division in June 2004. In that post she plans, develops, directs and implements tax shelter, pre-filing and technical field assistance programs. Petronchak also shares responsibility for coordinating the LMSB Division’s program activities with Legislative Affairs, Chief Counsel and Treasury. Her prior executive positions include Deputy Director, Pre-Filing and Technical Guidance, to which she was appointed in September 2002, and Director of Field Operations, to which she was appointed in December 1999.

IR-2006-059:  Sarah Hall Ingram has been appointed to the position of Chief, Appeals. replacing David Robison, effective May 7:

As the head of the agency’s Appeals division, Ingram will be responsible for overseeing the operations of an administrative forum for taxpayers contesting an IRS compliance action. The Appeals mission is to resolve tax disputes without litigation; it provides an independent administrative appeal process for all taxpayers.

Since July 2004, Ingram has been serving as Deputy Commissioner of the Tax Exempt/Government Entities Division (TE/GE). Ingram began her career with the IRS in the former Tax Litigation Division in 1982. She became Employee Plans Litigation Counsel in 1987, providing litigation coordination nationwide for employee benefit cases. In 1992, Ingram became Deputy Associate Chief Counsel, Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations (EBEO), where she served until her 1994 appointment as Associate Chief Counsel, EBEO. As part of the IRS Modernization program, Ingram was appointed in 1999 to the new position of Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel, TE/GE, where she was responsible for providing legal services to the TE/GE Division and its customers as well as other parts of the IRS.