Internal Revenue Agent - Tax Exempt Bonds

Summary

WHAT IS TAX EXEMPT/GOVERNMENT ENTITIES?
A description of the business units can be found at: Business Divisions | IRS Careers

• Positions are to be filled in TEGE - Exempt Organizations and Government Entities, Government Entities, Tax Exempt Bonds
• This position is open only to permanent IRS competitive service employees in Tax Exempt/Government Entities business units.
• Remain in POD - The vacancy will be filled at the selectee's official permanent position of record, post-of-duty (POD).

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.

• Receives assigned cases and conducts pre-examination/compliance analysis of available data regarding the bond issuances under review in order to develop plans for conducting the examinations or compliance contacts. Determines the most effective avenue for investigation and review of bond issuances, which normally requires adapting audit and investigative procedures to unique and special situations.
• Prepares the audit plan and conducts examinations of bond issuances. Examines the accounting practices and bookkeeping systems of a wide variety of government, municipal and private entities. Also, conducts compliance and compliance reviews of bond issuances. These cases involve scrutiny of computerized accounting data, extensive research of tax laws, regulations, etc. to locate pertinent related precedents. Prepares a comprehensive audit report on the results of the examination or provides feedback of the results of the compliance contact.
• Acts as a tax-exempt bond agent in other Exempt Organization, Indian Tribal Government, Federal, State and Local Government or other functional examinations.
• Confers with customers and representatives to explain the accounting, financial and other significant issues involved and the applicability of pertinent tax laws, regulations and related filing requirements. Explains corrective actions required or modifications to promote future compliance. Makes determination concerning continued entitlement of bond issuances to exempt status.
• Develops information for technical advice requests and responses to written requests. Prepares technical correspondence, information reports, and memorandum of law in accordance with established procedures dealing with tax-exempt bond issuances. Promotes future compliance and utilizes alternative methods of dispute resolution when needed. Presents technical tax information in a variety of forums such as: workshops, classes, speeches and industry panels.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• Probationary Period - A person who is required to go through a probationary period and then is transferred, promoted, demoted, or reassigned before he or she completes such period is required to complete the remainder of the probationary period in the new position.
• Government Credit Card - Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
• Tax Audit -The employment of any candidate, including a current employee or a new hire, selected for this position may be conditional upon classification and/or audit of federal tax returns. This audit may include up to 2 years of returns.

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-timework 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.
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:
BASIC REQUIREMENTS All GRADES:
A Certificate as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or a bachelor's or higher degree in accounting that included at least 30 semester hours in accounting or 24 semester hours in accounting and an additional 6 semester hours in related subjects such as business law, economics, statistical/quantitative methods, computerized accounting or financial systems, financial management, or finance.
OR
A bachelor's or higher degree in a field other than accounting or a combination of education and experience equivalent to 4 years that included at least 30 semester hours in accounting or 24 semester hours in accounting and 6 semester hours in related subjects as described above.
AND
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GS-13:
In addition to meeting the basic requirement, you must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service. Qualifying experience must have been in progressively responsible and diversified professional accounting or auditing work that required 1) knowledge of and skill in applying professional accounting principles, theory, and practices to analyze and interpret accounting books, records, or systems specifically to determine their effect on Federal tax liabilities and their adequacy for recording transactions affecting tax liabilities; 2) skill in interpreting and applying Federal tax law for individuals, business, and/or exempt organizations, partnerships, and corporations; 3) knowledge of business and trade practices to develop tax issues based on analysis and evaluation of overall business operations and financial condition; 4) knowledge of corporate financial transactions and financial management principles and practices; and 5) skill in interacting effectively with a broad range of individuals and in negotiating with specialists in accounting, legal, tax, and other similar business-related professions.
Experience includes:
Determining compliance with complex tax-advantaged bonds, including tax credit bonds and tax-exempt bonds.
Independently conducting examinations with a broad range of private, governmental, and tax-exempt entities to make determinations on the continued compliance with tax-advantaged status of bond issuances.
Experience with municipal or governmental financing transactions in conducting audits with features such as governmental or financial accounting, tax law, investigative or compliance issues where there is little or no previous guidance.
Interacting and negotiating effectively with governmental entities and their representatives in accounting, legal, tax and other similar municipal finance-related professions to address compliance with Federal tax law for tax-advantaged bonds.
Completion of specialized education or training in arbitrage concepts and calculations.
Interpreting and applying Federal tax laws and regulations for municipal bonds to reach audit conclusions in writing that include facts, law, a legal analysis, and the government's position.

AND
You must also meet the following requirement(s):

• TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT (TACA): Current civilian employees must have completed at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest non-temporary appointment from a competitive referral certificate, known as time after competitive appointment. For this requirement, a competitive appointment is one where you applied to and were appointed from an announcement open to "All US Citizens".
• TIME IN GRADE (TIG): For positions above the GS-05,applicants must meet applicable time-in-­grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the grade you are applying for. For positions at the GS-5, you cannot advance to the GS-05 if you have held a GS-02 in the past 52 weeks. There is no TIG restriction for GS-02, 03, or 04 positions.

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).

Additional information

• 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.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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