Tax Law Specialist

Summary

WHAT IS TAXPAYER SERVICES? A description of the business units can be found at: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/about/who/business-divisions Position(s) are to be filled in the following area(s): TS - CARE-Customer Assistance, Relationship & Education - Media & Publications - Tax Forms & Publications Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application.

Duties

The following are the duties of this position at the full working level. If this vacancy includes more than one grade and you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform these duties and receive training to help you grow in this position. Performs advanced research and analysis of highly complex federal tax law provisions contained in the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, judicial decisions, congressional committee reports, and proposed and enacted legislation. Assignments involve interpreting highly complex and interrelated statutory provisions, including those with significant economic, compliance, or administrative impact to all taxpayers. Evaluates legislative intent, identifies downstream effects on tax administration, and determines how legal requirements must be operationalized within tax products. Serves as a recognized subject matter expert and senior technical advisor providing authoritative guidance on complex tax law issues affecting nationwide tax administration, taxpayer compliance, and implementation of legislative and regulatory changes. This includes reviewing tax products developed by other BODs for legal sufficiency, technical accuracy, consistency with existing guidance, and alignment with current law and Taxpayer Services policy. Leads efforts to improve and modernize tax products to enhance clarity, usability, and compliance effectiveness. This includes applying plain language principles, improving logical structure and design, and reducing unnecessary taxpayer burden while maintaining strict adherence to legal requirements. Completes tax law research and evaluates the impact of new or revised legislation on existing products and determines whether new products are required or existing products must be modified or retired. This includes identifying gaps in taxpayer guidance and proposing solutions to address emerging needs. Requirements

Probationary Period - All newly appointed employees to the competitive (or excepted) service are subject to a probationary (or trial) period. During this time, your performance, conduct, and suitability for continued employment will be evaluated. You will not automatically convert to permanent status at the end of the probationary (or trial) period. Your supervisor must affirmatively determine that continued employment is in the best interest of the Federal service. If no certification is made before the probationary (or trial) period ends, your appointment will be terminated. You are encouraged to actively engage with your supervisor, seek feedback, and understand role expectations. Additional guidance and support will be provided during onboarding. Government Credit Card - Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel. Key Eligibility Requirements: U.S Citizenship - Must be a U.S. Citizen or National and provide proof of U.S. Citizenship. Selective Service Registration - Males born after December 31, 1959 are required to be registered with the Selective Service System or prove they are exempt from having to do so. Personal Identity Verification (PIV) - Must provide 2 forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. These documents must be unexpired original or certified copies. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS SHOWN IN QUALIFICATIONS OR ADDTIONAL INFORMATION SECTIONS Qualifications

Federal experience is not required. Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or through Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-time work is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume. You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: GS-13 LEVEL: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience with legal, tax accounting, or other experience that required knowledge of Federal tax laws, regulations, precedent decisions, or other areas related to the position to be filled. Examples of qualifying experience include: Preparing, reviewing, or applying rulings, advisory letters, memoranda, etc. related to Federal taxation. Analyzing and adjudicating tax claims, appeals, settlement offers, or similar work related to Federal tax operation. Work as an attorney that required legal research, analysis, and preparation of briefs or similar documents interpreting laws and regulations. Work as an accountant, auditor, or investigator that required application of Federal tax accounting principles and/or the Internal Revenue Code and related laws. In addition, your experience must be sufficient to demonstrate the following: Experience with Federal tax laws, regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures and other pertinent technical matters to address taxpayer's needs; Experience converting tax laws and other technical matters into clear concise, logically arranged, well written and easy to understand explanatory material; Experience with accounting methods, principles, techniques and practices to analyze the impact of tax law provisions on taxpayer reporting requirements, information reporting, income recognition, and/or other tax administration matters; Experience with tax law, research techniques that include using on-line and paper methods to research and analyze tax issues; Experience with learning theory and cognitive thinking, as they apply to the writing, design, and presentation of materials; Experience with Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) or other designated electronic composition and publishing system to design and produce materials and documents. AND You must also meet the following requirements: MINIMUM AGE REQUIREMENT: Minimum age for federal employment is 18 years old, or at least 16 years old and have: Graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or Completed a formal vocational training program; or Received a statement from school authorities agreeing with your preference for employment rather than continuing your education. For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards.

Education

A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page. FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. Click here (Section 3, Explanation of Terms) or here for Foreign Education Credentialing instructions. We recommend choosing an evaluator from a member organization of one of the following national associations of credential evaluation services: National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE). How You Will Be Evaluated

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Rating: Category rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level categories, CAT A, CAT B or CAT C. Referral: Eligible applicants rated in the highest category group, may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. Candidates, if required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring practices), will be interviewed in category group order. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Qualified preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more (CPS, CP) are placed at the top of the highest category on the referral list (except for scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher). Remaining preference eligibles are placed above non-preference eligibles within their assigned category. If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP), you must receive a rating of category CAT B to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority. If you are selected, you will be subject to all requirements listed in the Requirements, Qualifications, and Additional Information sections of this announcement which includes, Prior Employment/Tax Checks, Fingerprint/Criminal History checks. Other Information

Suitability Requirements: Prior IRS Employment - Former employees will be subject to a screening of their prior conduct with the Service. The Taxpayer First Act of 2019, 26 U.S. Code 7804, prohibits the IRS from rehiring certain former employees who were removed from service. Tax Check - Must undergo a review of income tax verification. To check the status of your tax record go to: (https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript). If you are not in compliance, you will be determined unsuitable for employment with IRS. Fingerprint/Criminal History Check - This position requires that the successful candidate undergo personnel vetting, which includes a background investigation and enrollment upon onboarding into "Continuous Vetting." Enrollment in Continuous Vetting will result in automated record checks being conducted throughout one's employment with Treasury. The successful candidate will also be enrolled into FBI's Rap Back service, which will allow Treasury to receive notification from the FBI of criminal matters (e.g., arrests, charges, convictions) involving enrolled individuals in near real-time. For more information regarding your rights refer to Noncriminal Justice Applicant's Privacy Rights - FBI, FD-258 Privacy Act Statement - FBI, and SEAD-3-Reporting-U.pdf (dni.gov). Additional Information: Consider each location carefully when applying. If you are selected for a location, that location will become your official post of duty. In the event that a building is closed due to rent management, new hires may be placed in a local commuting location. Additional jobs may be filled from this announcement or any other source to fill these vacancies. Alternative work schedule, staggered work hours may be available. Salary: General Schedule (GS) Locality Pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages. Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLA): Puerto Rico (PR3930) includes COLA. See COLA Rates 2026.