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Appeals Officer - Settlement Officer (Appeals Program)

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Independent Office of Appeals

Summary

WHAT IS INDEPENDENT OFFICE OF APPEALS?

A description of the business units can be found at: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/about/who/business-divisions
  • Position(s) are to be filled in following area(s):
    • Appeals - Collection Appeals
  • Remain in POD - The vacancy will be filled at the selectee's official permanent position of record, post-of-duty (POD).

REVIEW THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BELOW FOR FURTHER DETAILS

Overview

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Accepting applications
Location
20 vacancies in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
Yes—Telework eligible positions do not guarantee telework.
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$61,722 - $121,371 per year

The range reflects the minimum locality to maximum locality for locations listed in the announcement. Salary will be based on selected duty location.

Pay scale & grade
GS 9 - 11
Promotion potential
11 - This position has career progression. If selected at a lower grade level you may be promoted without further competition to the full working level as your career progresses.
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time - Day Shift, Monday-Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm, 40 hours per week
Travel Required
Occasional travel - May be required to travel 1-5 days per month.
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Competitive Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Position sensitivity and risk
Moderate Risk (MR)
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
26-13043527C-APN-0930-9/11
Control number
881507000

Duties

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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.

  • Reviews incoming cases for statutes, development of the issues by both the taxpayer and the government, completeness of supporting documents, transcripts and work papers. Reviews and analyzes information from internal and external sources to resolve issues and close cases.
  • Researches case issues to determine and apply the law to the facts presented. Where issues are unclear or where a clear precedent is lacking, determines the appropriate resolution based upon relevant factors.
  • Analyzes taxpayer responses and initiates contact with taxpayers to determine appropriate case resolution and provide technical and procedural information to taxpayers and their representatives by correspondence, telephone, virtually and in-person.
  • Contacts taxpayers and their representatives via phone, virtual or face-to-face to conduct interviews, clarify facts and issues, and resolve problems. Deals with taxpayers and their representatives to explain procedures, law, and regulations, discuss options and administratively resolve a number of collection issues.
  • Reviews information in the case file retrieved from automated and manual systems to verify compliance history and statute suspensions. Reviews and analyzes financial information that was previously investigated by Compliance. Initiates adjustments on tax accounts to ensure proper assessments, application of payments, and to resolve disputes between Compliance components and the taxpayer.

STANDARD POSITION DESCRIPTIONS (SPD): PD21102 and PD97908
Visit the IRS SPD Library to access the position descriptions.

Requirements

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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.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS SHOWN IN QUALIFICATIONS SECTION

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.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GS-09: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position must include at least three (3) of the following:

  • Applying fact-finding techniques, accounting principles, and financial analysis to evaluate tax and collection issues.
  • Analyzing various types of tax returns (such as 1040, 1120, 1120S, 1065, 941, 940) and documents (such as 433A, 433B, 433F, 656) to determine tax liability or the ability to pay of individual taxpayers and business and other entities.
  • Communicating both orally and in writing with taxpayers and their representatives to assist in resolving tax liability issues.
  • Preparing clear and accurate written correspondence and case histories that document account activity, actions taken, and findings.
  • Planning and organizing workload or work products to complete assignments with changing priorities.
AND
Your experience must include:
  • Researching and applying the Internal Revenue Code or Manual and related regulations and procedures to conduct detailed analytical collection determinations.

OR Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two (2) years of progressively higher-level education leading to a graduate degree such as business administration, accounting, auditing, finance, taxation, law (such as J.D.) or other related fields.
OR LL.B. or J.D. if related.
OR Combination of qualifying graduate education and experience equal to the amount required.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GS-11: You must have (1) year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes:

  • Applying Appeals policies, procedures, and applicable guidance to analyze cases and resolve collection issues.
  • Applying knowledge of collection alternatives, including offers in compromise, installment agreements, and lien provisions, to advise taxpayers and their representatives on available resolution options.
  • Applying the Internal Revenue Code, Internal Revenue Manual, court decisions, and other tax publications related to assigned areas to research cases, apply relevant tax law to the facts presented and determine the appropriate resolution of collection issues.
  • Applying accounting and financial analysis techniques to analyze financial information (e.g., analyzing taxpayer transcripts, case files, financial books and records and other information to determine collectability for case resolution).
  • Utilizing available on-line systems, research materials, and technology to research taxpayer information and resolve taxpayer inquiries.
AND
Your experience must include:
  • Experience in communications and interpersonal relationships to work professionally with taxpayers and their representatives in resolving collection issues. Examples include contacting taxpayers and their representatives to provide tax assistance and determine appropriate case settlement/resolution.

OR A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a doctoral degree in a related field of study such as: law (such as LL.M.), accounting, business or management, economics, math, and finance.
OR LL.M. if related
OR You may qualify by a combination of experience and education.

AND

You must also meet the following requirement(s):

  • TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT (TACA): 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"
  • 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-05, 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.
  • Salary: General Schedule (GS) Locality Pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages.
  • Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLA): Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico includes COLA. See COLA Rates 2026.

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.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further.

You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

  • Customer Service
  • Decision Making
  • Tax Law Interpretation
  • Technical Competence
  • Workload Management


Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration.

Rating: Your application will be evaluated in accordance with the Service's Merit Promotion Plan. A quality group rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level groups, Superior/Best Qualified, Highly Qualified and Qualified.

Referral: Eligible applicants rated in the highest quality group, may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. Candidates, if required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring practices), will be interviewed in quality group order. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site.

Performance Appraisal and Awards - Will not be used in determining your overall rating. Any performance appraisal/evaluation and award documentation you provide will be forwarded to the selecting official. The selecting official will review this documentation and give it due weight consideration during the overall selection process. IRS employees may obtain their most recent awards listing at https://persinfo.web.irs.gov/.

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

Internal Revenue Service

WHY IS THE IRS A GREAT PLACE TO WORK? As an IRS employee, you will feel proud knowing you helped make America stronger while working at one of the world's biggest financial institutions. You will be part of an organization that collects over $2 trillion in revenue and processes over 200 million tax returns annually. We are proud of how we apply the tax law with integrity and fairness to all. The IRS hires talented and dedicated individuals from many backgrounds, including accounting, business, finance, law enforcement and information technology. You will be challenged & supported on a daily basis. Whether you are just starting out or looking for a new opportunity, consider an IRS career.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has a distinguished history dating back to the founding of our nation. As the steward of U.S. economic and financial systems, Treasury is a major and influential leader in today's global economy. We have employees across the country and around the world. Come Join the Department of the Treasury and Invest in Tomorrow.

WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OTHER IRS CAREERS? Visit us on the web at www.jobs.irs.gov

Agency contact information

(ERC) Employee Resource Center
Phone
866-743-5748
Website
https://irsgov.sharepoint.com/sites/EmployeeResources/SitePages/ERC-Help-Desk.aspx
Address
Appeals - Collection Appeals
1111 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20224
US

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