Clarification from the agency

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

WHAT IS THE TAXPAYER ADVOCATE SERVICE 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:
Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), Executive Director Case Advocacy (EDCA)

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.

• In an entry-level capacity the incumbent provides assistance to the taxpayer in technical and procedural tax cases covering a limited range of the cases and issues encountered in the TAS office, some of which have significant complicating or specialized factors.
• The Case Advocate represents the office in advocating these cases involving complications and specialized issues for the taxpayer with the IRS' operating/functional divisions (OD/Fs) to resolve issues. Takes corrective action within TAS statutory and delegated authorities, including development of cases for purpose of recommending the issuance of Taxpayer Assistance Orders.
• Confers with the taxpayer who has experienced a delay beyond normal processing time, a significant hardship, or where systemic issues have been identified and actions taken, clarifying the basis of the complicating problem and citing applicable laws as necessary. Educates taxpayers and/or their representatives regarding tax obligations, responsibilities, rights, and options, including possible adverse consequences of decisions. Fully advises taxpayer of all rights and, as applicable, secures agreement of taxpayer to final decision.
• Performs specialized research, analysis, and necessary computations to make adjustments to taxpayers' accounts that have specialized factors. Using highly developed institutional knowledge of internal processes, solves vexing process and procedural problems of cases. Per the TAS/IRS service level agreements, recommends adjustments as appropriate and initiates credit transfers, payment tracers, and computations to tax, penalty, and interest. Prepares manual refunds, makes abatements, and prepares and executes waivers to extend statutes within TAS statutory and delegated authorities.
• Provides guidance to targeted audiences in seminars, speeches, and workshops.
• In an as-needed capacity, answers telephone calls from taxpayers from a published telephone line. Incumbent determines whether calls meet TAS criteria for handling a case and directs calls or gives information to taxpayer.

Conditions of employment

STANDARD POSITION DESCRIPTIONS (SPD):
PD98225, PD98226, PD98227, and PD98228
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.
• Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
• We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies. Additional jobs may be filled.
• The salary range indicated in this announcement reflects the minimum locality pay up to maximum locality pay for all duty locations listed. The range will be adjusted for selected duty location. General Schedule locality pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages.
• This is a bargaining unit position.
• Tour of Duty: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
• Alternative work schedule, staggered work hours or telework may be available.
• Relocation expenses - No
• Pay retention may be offered based on applicable laws and regulations.
• If this position is covered by a formal development plan, pay retention will be offered where applicable based on law and regulation.
• Please consider each location carefully when applying. If you are selected for a position at one of your location selections, that location will become your official post of duty.

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:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE/EDUCATION GS-05: 3 years of general experience, 1 year of which was experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-4 grade level in the Federal service: Experience that demonstrates the ability to analyze problems to identify significant factors, gather pertinent data, and recognize solutions; plan and organize work; communicate effectively orally and in writing. Such experience may have been gained in government, business or industry, investigative work, banking, law, accounting, or other work appropriate to the position to be filled. OR You may substitute education for general experience: Four (4) year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE/EDUCATION GS-07: 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-05 grade level in the Federal service: Experience advising & assisting others in order to explain issues related to meeting Federal tax obligations; Experience applying knowledge of business practices, policies, procedures, basic accounting principles, and Federal tax laws & regulations; Experience interviewing individuals and reviewing tax and bookkeeping records and returns; Experience analyzing systems using fact-finding techniques. OR You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: One full year of graduate education in a field of study such as: accounting, finance, taxation, business administration or other related fields. OR Superior Academic Achievement - A Bachelor's degree, with one of the following: A GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses or those completed in the last 2 years of study, or a GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all courses in the major field of study or those courses in the major completed in the last 2 years of study, or rank in the upper one third of the class in the college, university, or major subdivision, or membership in a national honor society recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE/EDUCATION GS-09: 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service: Experience applying basic accounting principles, examination techniques & collection processes to assist taxpayers in resolving tax issues; Experience communicating with taxpayers & their representatives to determine the nature of assistance needed, obtaining information & determining its relevance to resolve tax issues/problems; Experience advising and assisting taxpayers in meeting federal tax obligations; Experience managing an inventory and meeting deadlines. OR You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: A Master's or equivalent graduate degree in a field of study in an accredited college or university in accounting, finance, taxation, business administration or other related fields. OR Two full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in accounting, finance, taxation, business administration. OR LL.B. or J.D., if related to an accounting, finance, taxation, business administration or other related fields.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE/EDUCATION GS-11: 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service: Experience applying accounting, examination, returns processing, collection & or Taxpayer Advocate Service techniques; Experience with general and geographic business practices sufficient to independently process the complete range of cases; Experience advocating for taxpayers with significant hardship (IRC 7811 and/or Internal Revenue manuals) including but not limited to an immediate threat of adverse IRS action, a delay of more than 30 days in resolving taxpayer account problems, the incurring by the taxpayer of significant costs (including fees for professional representation) if relief is not granted, irreparable injury to, or a long-term adverse impact on the taxpayer if relief is not granted, or suffering injury because of an action or inaction by the IRS; Experience resolving taxpayer issues through negotiating, influencing or persuading other Business Operating Divisions (BOD) (for example, through the issuance or resolution of an Operational Assistance Order (OAR)) on a full range of individual & business tax returns; Experience with tax administration problems potentially having a negative impact on a significant number of taxpayers, including identifying potential systemic issues & taking appropriate action; Experience composing written communications to taxpayers & their representatives in order to expedite resolution of tax account issues & to educate regarding tax obligations, responsibilities, rights & options, including adverse consequences of decisions; Experience applying tax law based on the Internal Revenue Code & Regulations, conferring with subject matter experts or Counsel in developing a strategy for advocating and resolving a taxpayer's issue; Experience preparing and executing case action plans to advocate for case resolution for taxpayers, representatives or Congressional offices; Experience managing an inventory of cases and timely completing required actions including but not limited to, case development, issue determination, conducting interviews with taxpayers & or their representatives, documenting case histories with appropriate narratives in support of case decisions, preparing referrals to other IRS functions, including Appeals and Counsel. OR You may substitute education for specialized experience as follows: Ph.D. or equivalent degree or 3 full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a degree in a related field of study at an accredited college or university. OR LL.M., if related.

AND

TIME-IN-GRADE REQUIREMENTS: Under merit promotion procedures, Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions contained in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F. Time is credited based on calendar time served in a grade, regardless of the number of days or hours worked. If you currently hold or have previously held a position at the same (or equivalent) or higher grade/level in the Federal government as of this announcement, you will meet the TIME IN GRADE REQUIREMENTS.

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".

AND

THIS IS A BILINGUAL POSITION: Applicants will be required to demonstrate proficiency in Spanish. You must be able to speak, read and write the selected language in order to be considered proficient in that language. If you indicate language proficiency, you may be tested at some point in the hiring process to determine if you possess the required level of proficiency. If you are unable to demonstrate proficiency, you will not be qualified for these positions.

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.

In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires a bilingual assessment to evaluate your language proficiency. The bilingual assessment will test your ability to read, write, and/or converse in Spanish. In order to be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process and meet all qualifications. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

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.