Title 26, Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-110
§7471 Employees
Title 26 › Subtitle F — Procedure and Administration › CHAPTER 76 — JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS › Subchapter C — The Tax Court › PART III — MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS › § 7471
Summary
The Tax Court can hire its own clerk and other staff without using the normal federal competitive hiring rules. Judges and special trial judges may also hire employees with the court’s approval, and those hires serve at the pleasure of the judge or the court. The court sets pay for the clerk and staff and, when possible, tries to match pay for similar jobs in Article III courts. The court can run programs for performance reviews, awards, flexible schedules, extra pay, and grievance handling. Law clerks are exempt from the usual federal leave rules, and any unused sick or annual leave they had as of the effective date stays with them and can be used when they leave federal service. The court must forbid discrimination based on race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, or disability and must have procedures to handle complaints. Employees keep existing rights to bring appeals to agencies like the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Office of Special Counsel, or the EEOC if they had those rights the day before the effective date. After 1 year of continuous non‑temporary service, a Tax Court employee gains competitive status for qualified jobs in the competitive service. Travel and subsistence expenses are paid as federal rules require. Special trial judges’ pay and travel rules are set in another law.
Full Legal Text
Title 26, §7471
Internal Revenue Code, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Appointment and compensation
(1)Clerk
The Tax Court may appoint a clerk without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service. The clerk shall serve at the pleasure of the Tax Court.
(2)Judge-appointed employees
(A)In general
The judges and special trial judges of the Tax Court may appoint employees, in such numbers as the Tax Court may approve, without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service. Any such employee shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing judge.
(B)Exemption from Federal leave provisions
A law clerk appointed under this subsection shall be exempt from the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code. Any unused sick leave or annual leave standing to the law clerk’s credit as of the effective date of this subsection shall remain credited to the law clerk and shall be available to the law clerk upon separation from the Federal Government.
(3)Other employees
The Tax Court may appoint necessary employees without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service. Such employees shall be subject to removal by the Tax Court.
(4)Pay
The Tax Court may fix and adjust the compensation for the clerk and other employees of the Tax Court without regard to the provisions of chapter 51, subchapter III of chapter 53, or section 5373 of title 5, United States Code. To the maximum extent feasible, the Tax Court shall compensate employees at rates consistent with those for employees holding comparable positions in courts established under Article III of the Constitution of the United States.
(5)Programs
The Tax Court may establish programs for employee evaluations, incentive awards, flexible work schedules, premium pay, and resolution of employee grievances.
(6)Discrimination prohibited
The Tax Court shall—
(A)prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, or handicapping condition; and
(B)promulgate procedures for resolving complaints of discrimination by employees and applicants for employment.
(7)Experts and consultants
The Tax Court may procure the services of experts and consultants under section 3109 of title 5, United States Code.
(8)Rights to certain appeals reserved
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an individual who is an employee of the Tax Court on the day before the effective date of this subsection and who, as of that day, was entitled to—
(A)appeal a reduction in grade or removal to the Merit Systems Protection Board under chapter 43 of title 5, United States Code,
(B)appeal an adverse action to the Merit Systems Protection Board under chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code,
(C)appeal a prohibited personnel practice described under section 2302(b) of title 5, United States Code, to the Merit Systems Protection Board under chapter 77 of that title,
(D)make an allegation of a prohibited personnel practice described under section 2302(b) of title 5, United States Code, with the Office of Special Counsel under chapter 12 of that title for action in accordance with that chapter, or
(E)file an appeal with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under part 1614 of title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
shall continue to be entitled to file such appeal or make such an allegation so long as the individual remains an employee of the Tax Court.
(9)Competitive status
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any employee of the Tax Court who has completed at least 1 year of continuous service under a non-temporary appointment with the Tax Court acquires a competitive status for appointment to any position in the competitive service for which the employee possesses the required qualifications.
(10)Merit system principles, prohibited personnel practices, and preference eligibles
Any personnel management system of the Tax Court shall—
(A)include the principles set forth in section 2301(b) of title 5, United States Code;
(B)prohibit personnel practices prohibited under section 2302(b) of title 5, United States Code; and
(C)in the case of any individual who would be a preference eligible in the executive branch, provide preference for that individual in a manner and to an extent consistent with preference accorded to preference eligibles in the executive branch.
(b)Expenses for travel and subsistence
The employees of the Tax Court shall receive their necessary traveling expenses, and expenses for subsistence while traveling on duty and away from their designated stations, as provided in chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code.
(c)Special trial judges
For compensation and travel and subsistence allowances of special trial judges of the Tax Court, see subsections (d) and (e) of section 7443A.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The
Effective Date
of this subsection, referred to in subsec. (a)(2)(B), (8), probably means the
Effective Date
of section 1(a) of Pub. L. 111–366, which amended subsec. (a) generally. See
Effective Date
of 2011 Amendment note below.
Amendments
2011—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–366 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “The Tax Court is authorized to appoint, in accordance with the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointment in the competitive service, and to fix the basic pay of, in accordance with chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title, such employees as may be necessary efficiently to execute the functions vested in the Tax Court.” 1986—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99–514 substituted “subsections (d) and (e) of section 7443A” for “section 7456(c)”. 1984—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 98–369 substituted references to special trial judges for references to commissioners in the subsection heading and text. 1976—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 94–455, § 1906(a)(47)(A), among other changes, substituted provisions referring to title 5 of the United States Code for provisions referring to the civil service law, and to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5 for the Classification Act of 1949. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 94–455, § 1906(a)(47)(B), substituted “as provided in chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code” for “as provided in the Travel Expense Act of 1949 (63 Stat. 166; 5 U.S.C. chapter 16)”. 1969—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 91–172 inserted reference to the compensation of commissioners.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2011 Amendment Pub. L. 111–366, § 1(b), Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 4065, provided that: “The
Amendments
made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect on the date the United States Tax Court adopts a personnel management system [adopted effective Oct. 9, 2011] after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 4, 2011].”
Effective Date
of 1986 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 99–514 effective Oct. 22, 1986, except as otherwise provided, see section 1556(c) of Pub. L. 99–514, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 7443A of this title.
Effective Date
of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–369 effective July 18, 1984, see section 464(e)(1) of Pub. L. 98–369, set out as a note under section 7456 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1976 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 94–455 effective on first day of first month which begins more than 90 days after Oct. 4, 1976, see section 1906(d)(1) of Pub. L. 94–455, set out as a note under section 6013 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1969 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 91–172 effective Dec. 30, 1969, see section 962(a) of Pub. L. 91–172, set out as a note under section 7441 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 7471
Title 26, Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110