Determine tax liability or collect taxes from individuals or business firms according to prescribed laws and regulations.
Duties and Tasks:
1) Collect taxes from individuals or businesses according to prescribed laws and regulations.
2) Maintain knowledge of tax code changes, and of accounting procedures and theory in order to properly evaluate financial information.
3) Maintain records for each case, including contacts, telephone numbers, and actions taken.
4) Confer with taxpayers or their representatives in order to discuss the issues, laws, and regulations involved in returns, and to resolve problems with returns.
5) Contact taxpayers by mail or telephone in order to address discrepancies and to request supporting documentation.
6) Send notices to taxpayers when accounts are delinquent.
7) Notify taxpayers of any overpayment or underpayment, and either issue a refund or request further payment.
8) Conduct independent field audits and investigations of income tax returns in order to verify information and/or to amend tax liabilities.
9) Review filed tax returns in order to determine whether claimed tax credits and deductions are allowed by law.
10) Review selected tax returns in order to determine the nature and extent of audits to be performed on them.
11) Enter tax return information into computers for processing.
12) Examine accounting systems and records in order to determine whether accounting methods used were appropriate and in compliance with statutory provisions.
13) Process individual and corporate income tax returns, and sales and excise tax returns.
14) Impose payment deadlines on delinquent taxpayers and monitor payments in order to ensure that deadlines are met.
15) Check tax forms in order to verify that names and taxpayer identification numbers are correct, that computations have been performed correctly, and that amounts match those on supporting documentation.
16) Examine and analyze tax assets and liabilities in order to determine resolution of delinquent tax problems.
18) Determine appropriate methods of debt settlement, such as offers of compromise, wage garnishment, or seizure and sale of property.
19) Secure a taxpayer’s agreement to discharge a tax assessment, or submit contested determinations to other administrative or judicial conferees for appeals hearings.
20) Prepare briefs, and assist in searching and seizing records in order to prepare charges and documentation for court cases.
21) Direct service of legal documents, such as subpoenas, warrants, notices of assessment and garnishments.
22) Request that the state or federal revenue service prepare a return on a taxpayer’s behalf in cases where taxes have not been filed.
23) Investigate claims of inability to pay taxes by researching court information for the status of liens, mortgages, or financial statements, or by locating assets through third parties.
24) Install systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data or provide advice on such systems, based on examination of current financial records.
25) Participate in informal appeals hearings on contested cases from other agents.
Activities:
1) Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
2) Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
3) Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
4) Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
5) Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
6) Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
7) Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
8) Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
9) Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
10) Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
11) Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
12) Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
13) Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
14) Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
15) Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
16) Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
17) Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
18) Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
19) Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
Abilities:
1) Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
2) Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
3) Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
4) Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
5) Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
6) Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
7) Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
8) Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
9) Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
10) Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
11) Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
12) Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
13) Number Facility — The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
14) Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
15) Flexibility of Closure — The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
16) Mathematical Reasoning — The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Knowledge:
1) Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
2) Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
3) English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
4) Computers and Electronics — Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
5) Mathematics — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.