IRS CIO to retire after 34 years of federal service

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IRS CIO to retire after 34 years of federal service

Gina Garza will step down after almost three years as the lead technology executive for the tax agency and Nancy Sieger will become acting CIO.

Jason Miller@jmillerWFED

May 7, 2019 4:33 pm

2 min read

The IRS will be hanging the help wanted sign out for a new chief information officer. Gina Garza, the current CIO, is retiring on May 31 after more than 34 years of services.

Nancy Sieger, the IRS deputy CIO for filing season and tax reform, will replace Garza on an interim basis.

An IRS spokeswoman confirmed Garza’s decision to retire and Sieger’s interim appointment.

Garza began her IRS career in 1984 as GS-3 mail clerk at the Austin Submission Processing Center and soon thereafter accepted a permanent position in revenue accounting.

Gina Garza will retire after 34 years of federal service, including the last three as the IRS CIO.

She moved into IT in 1987 and moved up through the executive ranking, holding several positions including deputy CIO for operations, associate CIO for the Affordable Care Act program management office, and deputy associate commissioner for business integration.

Garza became CIO in July 2016, replacing Terry Milholland.

As an IRS technology executive, Garza led many major tax implementation efforts, including overseeing the technology deployments necessary to support implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Affordable Care Act and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

Most recently, she helped deliver a multi-billion-dollar modernization program for transforming IRS information systems. The IRS requested $3 billion in fiscal 2020 to continue its modernization efforts.

At the same time, Garza also was CIO or deputy CIO during a major data breach of taxpayer information and the identification of cybersecurity flaws in major systems like free e-file.

Garza’s plans for retirement include travel, time spent with family and enjoying this next chapter of her life.

During her career, Garza received two Presidential Rank Awards for Distinguished and Meritorious Service, and several IRS Commissioner’s awards.

Sieger ascends to the acting CIO’s role after being the deputy CIO and the acting deputy CIO for operations and the associate CIO for applications development.

She won numerous awards including the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award in 2018.