What Does the Department of the Treasury Do?

Established on September 2, 1789, the United States Department of the Treasury, controller of the nation's currency, stands across the street from the White House in Washington D.C. Its divisions include the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Bureau of Narcotics, the Bureau of the Mint, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Secret Service, the Bureau of the Public Debt, the Bureau of Accounts, and the Office of the Treasurer of the United States.

The Department of the Treasury is headed by the Secretary of the Treasury, a position appointed by the President of the United States. Since the Secretary of the Treasury is a member of the President's cabinet, the Secretary acts as an advisor to the President on U.S. financial policies, and informs the President about matters pertaining to its various divisions.

One of these divisions, the Bureau of the Public Debt, manages the U.S. national debt, or the amount of money which the federal government owes to its creditors. The most frequently cited cause for the existence of the national debt concerns expenses incurred by the government related to warfare. The actual monetary expenditure required for wartime activity, however, reflects only a portion of the national debt. Other activities, such as the expenses involved in creating public improvements, such as building roads and draining waterways, including the inundation caused by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, also contribute greatly to the national debt. To reduce the national debt, money is raised by the U.S. government through the sale of government bonds and through the act of taxation, since taxes generate governmental income.

Taxes were also originally the responsibility of the United States Coast Guard, a division of the Department of the Treasury. Created in 1790 to ensure collection of custom taxes by examination of papers and cargoes onboard seagoing vessels, the Coast Guard was then named the Revenue Marine. As the responsibilities of the Coast Guard broadened to include lifesaving, lighthouse operation, and patrolling coastal waters, a separate division of the Department of the Treasury, the Bureau of Customs, was established.

Supervision of U.S. banks is the responsibility of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. This office approves any new national banks, including new branches, and all bank mergers. By canceling a bank's charter, the Comptroller has the authority to acquire any bank deemed unsound financially, and can include any bank which may have violated pertinent laws.

Printing and manufacturing of money and securities is handled by two divisions of the Department of the Treasury. The Bureau of the Mint is responsible for producing all U.S. coins. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing manufactures paper money and securities.

Perhaps the best known of the Treasury Department's divisions is the Internal Revenue Service, the entity responsible for collection of personal and corporate income taxes. Based on Federal laws, the Internal Revenue Service assesses the taxes on any income received by individuals or businesses. The income which can be taxed includes income received through wages earned, income from estates and inheritances, and income received from capital gains on stocks, as well as taxation on amusements, liquor, and tobacco.

From its beginning in 1789, the Department of the Treasury has grown to encompass many items not originally part of its duties. Following the assassination of President McKinley in 1901, one division, originally charged with guarding currency, checks, and bonds from counterfeiting and forgery, acquired the duty of guardian of the President of the United States and members of his immediate family. Recognized as the force guarding the President, the Secret Service also stands watch over the buildings and vaults, which are part of the Treasury Department, including those across the street from the White House.

Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury.