The department’s initiatives include educating and assisting taxpayers, enforcing tax laws fairly and consistently, promoting and implementing electronic commerce to improve timeliness and accuracy in accounting for all collected funds, usingautomation and innovative methods to improve services, and administering the state’s motor vehicle title and registration laws. Commissioner Farr earned a law degree from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and a bachelor's degree in economics from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Prior to joining the department, he was with Ernst & Young where he practiced in the state and local tax arena. He was promoted to deputy commissioner, a role in which he served as the department's primary legislative liaison and tax policy coordinator, in 2004. In 2003, Commissioner Farr joined the Department of Revenue as assistant commissioner for tax administration with responsibility for the Audit, Legal and Taxpayer Services Divisions. Reagan Farr was appointed commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Revenue by Governor Phil Bredesen on January 20, 2007. Personnel in the department receive tax payments, process returns, maintain detailed records, issue administrative rulings, and perform audits to ensure accuracy and propriety. It is the responsibility of these employees to provide fair, firm, and effective enforcement of the tax laws with courteous and friendly service. More than 1,100 people work for the Department of Revenue in jobs ranging from taxpayer assistants to tax auditors to title and customer service representatives. The funds collected by the Department of Revenue help educate children, build highways and state parks, rehabilitate disabled citizens, and operate city and county governments. The magnitude of collections by the department makes possible a lower cost of collection per tax dollar than local communities could achieve. In addition to collecting state taxes, $1.9 billion of local sales tax was collected by the department for local governments during the 2007-2008 fiscal year. During the 2007-2008 fiscal year, the department collected $11.2 billion in state taxes and fees. The Department of Revenue collects approximately 92 percent of total state tax revenue. The department is responsible for enforcing revenue laws fairly and impartially in an effort to encourage voluntary taxpayer compliance.
The Tennessee Department of Revenue oversees tax and motor vehicle title and registration administration.