Duties

Summary

Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, the largest tax law firm in the country, is looking for enthusiastic individuals to join our team and gain valuable experience in a legal environment. Our mission is to serve America's taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and the highest quality legal advice and representation for the IRS. It is a great place to work with an excellent benefits package and family-friendly atmosphere.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

The Office of Associate Chief Counsel, Passthroughs & Special Industries (PSI) provides guidance, field support, and taxpayer advice in the following areas: the taxation of S corporations and partnerships (including limited liability companies); the taxation of trusts, estates, gifts, and generation-skipping transfers; income tax credits; cooperative housing corporations; farmers' and other cooperatives; low-income housing credits; research and experimental expenditures; taxation concerning natural resources and energy production; certain homeowner associations; and certain excise tax issues. PSI has two passthrough entity branches, an estate and gift tax branch, and three special industries branches, each with a specialized focus (income tax credits, natural resources, and excise taxes). These positions require substantive experience handling tax matters in a passthrough entity branch.

The following are the duties of this position at the GS-14 level. If you are selected at a lower level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform all these duties, and will receive training to help you grow in this position.

As a GS-14 attorney for the Associate Chief Counsel (PSI), you will perform the following principal duties:

• Draft published guidance, including regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, etc.
• Provide written legal advice to taxpayers and field components of the IRS.
• Make recommendations regarding litigation; review briefs and other litigation-related documents.

Please note this list of duties is not all inclusive.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Limited travel may be required.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
14

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Please refer to "Conditions of Employment".
• Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:

• A one-year trial period is required.
• Must successfully complete a background investigation.
• Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment to determine your suitability for Federal employment, at the time requested by the agency
• If you are a male applicant born after December 31, 1959, please certify that you have registered with the Selective Service System or are exempt from having to do so.
• Have your salary sent to a financial institution of your choice by Direct Deposit/Electronic Funds Transfer.
• Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9 . Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S.
• Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
• Undergo an income tax verification.
• 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 two years of returns.
• Because of its tax-related mission, the Office of Chief Counsel requires fingerprinting, tax verification, and a background security investigation as part of the pre-employment process.

Qualifications

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement:

GS-12: Possess a J.D. and an LL.M. degree. OR

Possess a J.D. plus a minimum of one year of general legal attorney experience (after receiving a J.D. degree) comparable to the GS-11 level in the Federal service.

GS-13: Possess a J.D. and an LL.M. degree and a minimum of one year of specialized legal attorney experience (comparable to the GS-12 level in the Federal service). OR

Possess a J.D. and a minimum of two years of attorney experience - one year of general legal attorney experience plus one year of specialized legal attorney experience (one year comparable to the GS-12 level in the Federal service).

GS-14: Possess a J.D. and one year of general legal experience, plus two years of legal tax experience (one year of legal tax experience must be comparable to the GS-13 level). OR

Possess an LL.M. and two years of specialized legal tax experience (one year of legal tax experience must be comparable to the GS-13 level).

GS-13 and GS-14 Specialized Experience: In addition, at least 52 weeks of the legal tax experience must include substantive tax experience in either of the following two areas of Federal tax law:

• Taxation matters involving passthrough taxation, including the taxation of partnerships (including limited liability companies), S corporations, the classification of entities, passive activity losses, at-risk rules, and tax shelters.
• The taxation of trusts, and their owners and beneficiaries.

Other qualifications for this position include:

• The J.D. and/or LL.M. must be from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Candidates must be admitted to practice law before the highest court of a state or territory of the United States; the District of Columbia; or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
• One year of professional legal experience refers to full-time work after admittance to the bar. Part-time work is considered on a prorated basis.
• The professional legal experience may have been gained in either the public or private sector.
• To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate on your resume the dates of employment by month/year, as well as the number of hours worked per week.

Education

You must have graduated with a J.D. and/or LL.M. from an ABA-accredited law school.

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of credibility of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. Refer to the OPM instructions.

Additional information

Other Information:

• We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.
• Relocation expenses are not authorized.
• This is a bargaining unit position.
• We offer opportunities for telework and flexible work schedules.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Rating: Your application will be evaluated using the experience/education defined under the qualifications section.

Referral: Professional Order will be used to refer and select eligible candidates. Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Preference-eligibles will be listed at the top of the certificate in alphabetical order and considered before non-preference-eligibles. All other candidates will be listed in alphabetical order.

If you are among the top qualified candidates, you may be required to participate in a selection interview. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview, such as travel to and from the interview site.

Bargaining Unit Chief Counsel employees will be given first consideration. To receive first consideration, Bargaining Unit Chief Counsel employees seeking reassignment must be on the Master First Consideration List (MFCL). In regard to this announcement, the MFCL is only for reassignments of employees currently occupying Bargaining Unit positions. If you are applying for a promotion, please apply to the announcement.

To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Required Documents

A complete application includes 1. A resume; 2. Vacancy question responses; and 3. Submission of any required documents. Please note that if you do not provide all required information as specified in this announcement, you may not be considered for this position (or may not receive the special consideration for which you may be eligible).

All applicants are required to submit a resume either by creating one in USAJOBS or uploading one of their own choosing. (Cover letters are optional.) To receive full credit for relevant experience, please list the month/year and number of hours worked for experience listed on your resume. We suggest that you preview the online questions, as you may need to customize your resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Please view resume tips .

In addition, applicants are required to submit: 1. An unofficial or official transcript(s) for your J.D. degree or LL.M. degree (an official transcript is required if you are selected); 2. An 8-10 page legal writing sample; and 3. A memorandum of interest summarizing your interest in the position.

VETERANS' PREFERENCE DOCUMENTATION: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans' preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Office of Chief Counsel considers veterans' preference eligibility as a position factor in attorney hiring. If you are claiming veterans' preference, you must submit a copy of your Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, DD-214 (Member 4 copy), or other official documentation from a branch of the Armed Forces or the Department of Veterans Affairs showing dates of service and type of discharge. Ten-point preference eligibles must also submit an Application for 10-point Veteran Preference, SF-15 , along with the required documentation listed on the back of the SF-15 form. For more information on veterans' preference, view FedsHireVets .

If selected, you will be required to submit an original Certificate of Good Standing from your State Bar.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.