In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes, incomes and tax records, the I.R.S. delayed the filing deadline for 2005 taxes to Oct. 16, 2006, for those living in the counties most affected by the storm. Normally, those taxpayers who did not file returns or pay their taxes by that extended deadline would begin receiving notices and, eventually, collection demands from the I.R.S.

Mr. Everson’s order delayed those collection efforts until early next year.

Terry L. Lemons, an I.R.S. spokesman, said that about 1.2 million taxpayers lived in the seven Louisiana parishes and three Mississippi counties where the agency had allowed people to delay payment of 2005 income taxes.

Mr. Everson was deputy director of the White House budget office in January 2003 when he was nominated by President Bush to be I.R.S. commissioner. His wife, Nanette, was until February the chief ethics lawyer in the Bush White House. There is no indication that anyone in the White House was aware of the order to delay the tax collections.

In an interview, Mr. Everson acknowledged that he had “probably” mentioned the elections to Ms. Tucker in their conversation. He said that in his mind the elections were part of a continuum that ran through the holidays, adding that it was a long-standing practice not to begin enforcement actions near Christmas because it often resulted in negative news and commentary about the I.R.S.

“We talk about the elections here every day,” Mr. Everson said. “We deal with the Congress  is there going to be a new Finance Committee chairman, a new Ways and Means Committee chairman?”

He added: “Of course, we think about whether our actions will play in the public space; we have to be seen as legitimate and independent, doing our job, and of course we would not institute a major enforcement action days before an election because it would be misinterpreted.”

Donald C. Alexander, who was commissioner under Mr. Carter and Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford, said he would never have even thought about delaying enforcement because of an election, but added that he thought Mr. Everson was otherwise doing an excellent job.