General Attorney (Tax) at U.S. Department of the Treasury in Seattle, WA

Summary

Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, seeks enthusiastic individuals to serve 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. Please click "Learn more about this agency" to find out more about Chief Counsel's various offices, to view some of the workplace attributes that Chief Counsel's workforce rates most favorably, and to hear from employees themselves.

Duties

The Office of Division Counsel, Large Business and International (LB&I) is headquartered in Washington, DC and has five Area Counsels located in Manhattan, NY; Newark, NJ; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; and San Francisco, CA. Each Area Counsel is responsible for legal work within a defined geographic group. Large Business and International provides legal services to the LB&I Division of the Internal Revenue Service. Our taxpayers are corporations, subchapter S corporations, and partnerships with substantial assets. We work with complicated issues of tax law and accounting principles in the context of an expanding global environment. LB&I employs over 380 attorneys nationwide, who provide a full range of legal services on all issues, including advising LB&I compliance agents, handling litigation in the U.S. Tax Court, and referring and recommending litigation to the Department of Justice.

As a General Attorney (Tax) you will:

Provide full range of legal services on all domestic and international tax issues.
Prepare answers to petitions, replies, motions, and other documents relevant to the case.
Research, analyze facts, and write legal opinions in response to questions.
Provide legal advice and recommendations to IRS agents.
Represent the IRS in U.S. Tax Court.

This is not an all-inclusive list. If selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform the duties of the position and will receive training to help you grow in the position.

This is an open-continuous/standing register announcement that is open 02/22/2024 to 09/30/2024. Applicants will be referred to the selecting officials and referral lists issued as vacancies occur.

Cutoff for receipt of applications will be midnight EST on the date a vacancy has been determined. Applications received after that date, may be considered on future referral lists. Notifications will be sent to applicants when application has been referred or not referred. The announcement may close prior to 09/30/2024, if management has succeeded in filling all vacancies and has no further use for a standing register.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

Refer to "Additional Information"
Click "Print Preview" to review the entire announcement before applying.
Must be a U.S. Citizen or National

Qualifications

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application.

To qualify for this position of General Attorney (Tax) you must meet the qualification requirements listed below at the time of referral or by the closing of this announcement, whichever is first:

Basic Requirements for General Attorney (Tax):

Possess at least the first professional law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association; AND
Applicants must be an active member in good standing of the bar of a State, U.S. Commonwealth, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

GS-12 Experience Requirements:

1 year of general professional legal experience from any area of expertise

GS-13 Experience Requirements:

1 year of general professional legal experience from any area of expertise; plus
1 year of professional legal tax experience

GS-14 Experience Requirements:

1 year of general professional legal experience from any area of expertise; plus
2 years of professional legal tax experience

Professional Legal Tax Experience is defined as one or more of the following: Tax litigation (please specify type of tax litigation: trial or pre-trial; federal or state court(s) (Tax Court, District Court, etc.)), tax controversy (Administrative practice), complex transactional tax work involving large national or multinational corporations or partnerships, and transfer pricing. At least one year of this experience must be equivalent to the work performed at the next lower grade/level position in the federal service for the grade you are applying to.

Note: Only experience gained after Bar Admission may be credited as Professional Legal Experience.

Education Substitution: An LL.M. degree in the field of this position (Tax Law/Taxation) may be substituted for the one year of the general legal experience listed above.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. 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.

How You Will Be Evaluated

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

Applicants will be considered based on their overall background as it relates to the position to be filled. Interviews may be held at the option of the office. All application materials and interviews, if conducted, will be used in the final evaluation and selection process.

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.

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 .

In addition, applicants are required to submit:

An unofficial or official transcript(s) for your J.D. degree or LL.M. degree (an official transcript is required if you are selected)
An 8-10 page legal writing sample
A memorandum of interest summarizing your interest in the position

Current Chief Counsel Employees are also required to submit:

A copy of your most recent, signed, completed annual performance appraisal which includes the final rating. If it is not dated within the last 12 months or if you have not received a performance appraisal, please explain why in your application

Education Documentation: For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position by substituting education or training for experience, submit a copy of your transcripts or equivalent. An official transcript will be required if you are selected. See "Education" for more details.

Certificate of Good Standing: A certified original copy of your certificate of good standing from your State Bar will be required if you are selected.

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 , along with the required documentation listed on the back of the SF-15 form. For more information on veterans' preference, view .