Clarification from the agency

Open to IRS Career/Career-Conditional, Treasury/IRS CTAP, & IRS RPP employees

WHAT IS THE APPEALSDIVISION?
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:
Specialized Exam Programs and Referrals (SEP&R), Technical Support (TS), Teams 5,6 and 7.

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.

• Either as a team member or in support of a Team Case Leader works the most complex and complicated accounting, auditing, computational and procedural issues within Appeals. Deals with corporate taxpayer representatives to resolve issues such as complex depreciation, investment tax credit, restricted interest, net rate interest, future interests, adjustments to capital structure, valuation and cost analysis, and change of the accounting methods.
• Reviews and analyzes Revenue Agent, Appeals Officer, and Counsel Attorney instructions, reports, case files and support statements, and interprets tax law court decisions, and legal opinions to determine and prepare accurate computations for the most demanding and complex Appeals cases. Cases may involve precedent setting determinations and invariably demand considerable judgment and knowledge in order to interpret case documents and apply the tax law.
• Prepares statutory Notices of Deficiency for the most complex un-agreed cases. This necessitates the detailed analysis of case materials prepared by the Revenue Agents and Appeals Officers, the review and application of the Internal Revenue Code, regulations and court rulings, and the provision of all pertinent computations and written explanations to state the tax adjustments and their basis. Notices as formal legal instruments must accurately and comprehensively state each adjustment so that the taxpayer may prepare allegations of error while permitting the government all possible defenses.
• Prepares Rule 155 computations in Tax Court cases giving effect to the Court's opinion and any stipulated adjustments. Considers all necessary adjustments in computing the corrected tax liability which becomes the basis for the Court's decision.
• Prepares complex and extensive computations on projected tax impact of differing settlement proposals by either the government or the taxpayer. These computations typically involve in-depth information and various accounting systems which address both foreign and domestic entities.

Conditions of employment

STANDARD POSITION DESCRIPTIONS (SPD):
PD92060
Visit the IRS SPD Library to access the position descriptions.

• If you are in a telework eligible position, you may be directed to temporarily telework on a full-time basis due to COVID 19. Employees must be within a 200-mile radius of their official assigned post-of-duty (POD) while in a telework status. Once normal operations resume, employees may be directed back to the office to perform the duties of their position. Telework eligibility does not guarantee telework; employees must meet and sustain IRS telework eligibility requirements and supervisor's approval to participate in the IRS Telework Program. As a reminder - If you are selected for a position, you are responsible for reporting to your designated POD (location) on the negotiated start date or as directed by management.
• A 1-year probationary period is required (unless already completed).
• Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.

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 :
A Bachelor's or higher degree in accounting from an accredited college or university that included at least 30 semester hours (45 quarter 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 combination of experience and education at an accredited college or university equivalent to a four year degree that included courses equivalent to a major in accounting, i.e. at least 30 semester hours in accounting or 24 semester hours in accounting and 6 semester hours in related subjects as described above.
OR
A Certificate as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) obtained through written examination in a State, territory or the District of Columbia.
OR
Are currently serving as an Internal Revenue Agent GS-0512 and have been in this position for at least one year or was previously an Internal Revenue Agent GS-0512 and held the position for at least one year.

In addition to the above qualifications, you must possess the following professional accounting knowledges: Principles of Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Cost Accounting, Advanced Accounting, and Auditing. This knowledge is typically acquired by completion of an accounting degree from a four-year college or university. If not from an academic environment, the knowledge can also be obtained from certain work experience.

In addition to meeting the basic requirements above, to qualify for this position you must also meet the qualification requirements listed below:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: GS-13 LEVEL: 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. Specialized experience for this position includes:
Progressively responsible and diversified professional accounting or auditing work that required the application of 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; Experience interpreting and applying Federal tax law for individuals, business and/or exempt organizations, partnerships, and corporations. Experience applying business and trade practices to develop tax issues based on analysis and evaluation of overall business operations and financial condition; Experience with corporate financial transactions and financial management principles and practices; AND Interacting effectively with a broad range of individuals and negotiating with specialists in accounting, legal, tax, and other similar business related professions. Experience applying tax law with appropriate software [e.g., Report Generation Software (RGS), Bureau of National Affairs Corporate Tax Analyzer (BNA)] , analyzing individual, business, and corporation tax returns (e.g., 1040, 1120, 1120S, 940, 941) and all relevant schedules, and reading and analyzing transcripts of account [e.g., Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS)] to compute income adjustments and prepare statements of account. Identify, analyze and research issues to determine proper adjustments and credits. Experience using spreadsheets to explain tax computations. Experience communicating tax matters verbally and in writing to Appeals Officers, Counsel Attorneys and taxpayers/representatives.

AND

MEET TIME IN GRADE (TIG) REQUIREMENT: 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.

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.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Your application includes your resume, responses to the online questions, and required supporting documents. Please be sure that your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications for this position; failure to provide sufficient evidence in your resume may result in a "not qualified" determination.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated on the Critical Job Elements (CJE) of the position to be filled, in accordance with Article 13 of the IRS/NTEU National Agreement. Your application will also be rated and ranked among others, based on your responses to the online questions/assessment. Your experience, education, training, prior performance, and awards, relevant to the position being filled, will be considered throughout the hiring process. IRS employees may obtain most recent awards listing at https://persinfo.web.irs.gov/.

Referral: If you are among the top qualified candidates, your application may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. You may be required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring polices). We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site.

If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee eligible for Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP), you must receive a score of 80 or better to be rated as well qualified to receive special selection priority.