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:
Office of Appeals Specialized Exam Prog and Ref - AREA 10


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.

• Conducts Appeals conferences for the settlement of the largest and most complex tax cases in which taxpayers have appealed determinations made by the Service or have filed petitions with the U.S. Tax Court for redetermination of tax liability. Cases typically concern large, complex businesses, including those with extensive subsidiaries, diversified activities, multiple partners and national or international scope of operations.
• Conducts extensive research and analysis to determine and apply the law to the complex facts and policy issues presented. Serves as an expert in determining a final settlement and resolving appealed cases where there is little or no previous interpretation of statutory provisions, laws and regulations are highly subjective, precedents are nonexistent, obscure or conflicting, and there are significant amounts of money at issue, or precedent setting issues. Where issues are unclear or where a clear precedent is lacking, determines the appropriate resolution based upon relevant factors including reasonableness, adjudication trends and settlement practices.
• Analyzes case files, supporting documents and other information that relate to tax liability. Reviews cases for adequate technical development of issues. Obtains and evaluates expert testimony or information in highly technical areas such as engineering, finance, science, art, etc. to resolve complex valuation issues. Remedies defects or inadequacies in cases or on issues either independently or collaboratively with other team members, or by referral to the appropriate Service component.
• Deals professionally and effectively with taxpayers, representatives and co-workers. Conducts Appeals conferences and negotiations in a dignified and orderly manner, with displayed impartiality. Negotiates settlements of cases on the basis of facts developed and applicable law and regulations, considering the hazards of litigation.
• As appropriate, provides effective neutral assistance as a mediator to resolve tax disputes between the IRS and the taxpayer. Conducts separate or joint conferences to assist the parties of the tax dispute to arrive at a resolution in an effort to avoid litigation and minimize costs.

Conditions of employment

STANDARD POSITION DESCRIPTIONS (SPD):
PD92932
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.
• 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.
• 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: Day Shift - Start and stop times between 6:00am and 6:00pm.
• Alternative work schedule, staggered work hours or telework may be available.
• Relocation expenses - NO

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: GS-14 LEVEL: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-13 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes: Experience applying professional basic and intermediate accounting principles, theory, and practices to analyze and interpret accounting books, records, or systems specifically to determine effect on tax liabilities or financial statements (i.e., TEGE entities); Experience interpreting and analyzing financial statements of small and large TEGE entities (e.g., Employee Plans, Exempt Organizations, Tax Exempt Bonds, Federal State and Local Governments, Indian Tribal Governments, corporations, partnerships, and/or trusts) to resolve tax disputes; Experience with General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) process from financial to tax administration (i.e., TEGE entities); Experience using accounting or legal analysis with respect to tax implications in making financial or business decisions; Experience conducting Legal research and applying legal principles, theories and practices to analyze and interpret legal issues (i.e., TEGE) specifically to determine effect on tax liabilities or financial statements; Experience interpreting the law in situations where there are uncertainties or conflicts in statutes, regulations, case law, or other guidance to determine and apply the appropriate intent of the law in tax situations such as those involving exempt organizations, pension plans and tax exempt bonds; Experience applying litigating hazards and exercising judgments involving matters of law particularly as they relate to resolving tax disputes (e.g., whether a tax exempt entity should retain its exempt status, or whether certain transactions within an employee plan are prohibitive, or whether proceeds from a tax exempt bond were properly utilized, etc). Experience with accounting topics related to TEGE entities such as: financial characteristics of business entities; journal and ledger entries; present value application; investments and revenue recognition, auditing standards and generally accepted accounting principles associated with multiple assets and liability measurement and their related effect on net income.

AND
MEET TIME IN GRADE (TIG) REQUIREMENT: 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".

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.