Duties
WHAT IS THE Small Business Self Employed (SB/SE)DIVISION?
A description of the business units can be found at: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/about/who/business-divisions
Vacancies will be filled in the following specialty areas:
SB/SE Exam- Examination Operations, Field Exam
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.
- Plans and conducts independent examinations and related investigations of a variety of individual and business taxpayers involving complex tax issues and accounting records. Such examinations may include business issues such as taxpayer’s methods of accounting (cash and/or accrual basis), depreciation, inventory valuation, cost of goods sold, prepaid assets and expenses, and E-commerce.
- For Specialty Programs, such activities include investigations of strategic or special emphasis programs such as claims, nonfilers, worker classification, tip reporting, and fringe benefits and other issues.
- Conducts examinations both independently and as part of an audit team.
- Specializes in the areas of Income Tax Withholding, Federal Insurance Contributions Act, and Federal Unemployment Tax Act.
- Advises taxpayers of their rights as defined in the examination and appeal guidelines; examination procedures; current tax and reporting responsibilities; and the importance and benefit of meeting future responsibilities.
- Conducts package audits to determine that other required returns are filed. Conducts concurrent examinations of these and other related returns when warranted.
Qualifications
Federal experience is not required. The experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or 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/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:
BASIC REQUIREMENT:
ACCOUNTING KNOWLEDGE: You must have knowledge of Principles of Accounting and Intermediate Accounting. Candidates can demonstrate this knowledge either through successful completion of twelve semester hours (6 basic and 6 intermediate) or eighteen quarter hours (9 basic and 9 intermediate) of college level accounting work and/or experience. Applicants qualifying based on education must submit transcripts with their application.
In addition to meeting the basic requirement above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:
SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GS-11:
You must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience that demonstrates a substantive knowledge of business practices, basic accounting principles, and Federal tax laws and regulations; and that required the ability to audit tax records, analyze systems and bookkeeping, use factfinding techniques, and develop interpersonal skills. Qualifying specialized experience may have been gained in work such as:
- Office auditing of various types of tax returns to determine tax liability of individual taxpayers, businesses, or corporations.
- Applying pertinent parts of the Internal Revenue Code and related regulations and procedures to: (1) conduct comprehensive analytical examinations, (2) use creative in-office factfinding techniques, and (3) develop effective public contact skills.
- Determination and redetermination, or audit, on liability for Federal taxes.
- Program evaluation, internal audit or administrative management of the assessment and collection of Federal taxes (other than alcohol and tobacco).
- Investigating alleged criminal violations of Federal tax statutes and making recommendations for criminal prosecution and assertion of civil penalties.
- Collecting delinquent Federal taxes (other than alcohol and tobacco), including canvassing for unreported taxes due, and securing delinquent returns.
In addition, experience in areas such as Income Tax Withholding, Federal Insurance Contributions Act and Federal Unemployment Tax Act; Experience in analytical techniques, indirect methods of determining taxable income and judgement to evaluate information and to reach decisions on issues; Experience in conducting extensive research of various resources and references to answer legal questions, including consideration of judicial decisions and legislative intent in cases requiring the adaptation of precedents to current tax return examinations.
OR
A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or Three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in accounting, auditing, taxation, business administration, law or other related fields;
One year of graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.
OR
LL.M., if related
OR
Combined graduate education and experience as defined in paragraphs above.
AND
MEET TIME IN GRADE (TIG) REQUIREMENT: You must meet applicable TIG requirements to be considered eligible. To meet TIG for positions above the GS-05 grade level, you must have served at least one year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade (or equivalent) in the normal line of progression for the position you are applying to. Advancement to positions up to GS-05 is permitted if the position to be filled is no more than two grades above the lowest grade held within the preceding 52 weeks.
AND
TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT: By the closing date (or if this is an open continuous announcement, by the cut-off date) specified in this job announcement, 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”.
For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM’s Qualifications Standards.
Education
A copy of your transcripts or equivalent documentation is required for positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying based on education or a combination of education and experience. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. If the position has specific education requirements and you currently hold, or have previously held, a position in the same job series with the IRS, there is no need to submit a transcript or equivalent at this time. Applicants are encouraged, but are not required, to submit an SF-50 documenting experience in a specific series.
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 for Foreign Education Credentialing instructions.