Equipment Finance Tax Specialist

Fifth Third Bank•Cincinnati, OH

5d•$71,100 - $145,900

About The Position

The Equipment Finance Tax Specialist reviews complex commercial lease transactions to ensure sales and property tax compliance and mitigate tax and legal risk for the bank. The role operates in a multi-jurisdictional commercial leasing environment and provides tax and accounting research, compliance support, and related customer service. The specialist analyzes pending leases, provides tax codes, audits lease setups, researches changes in tax laws, supports tax disputes and audits, facilitates customer refunds, and manages property tax vendor activities. The role also coordinates with corporate tax, finance, lease administration, sales, and other teams to support accurate tax accounting, reconciliations, reporting, customer issue resolution, and process improvements.

Requirements

7–10 years of accounting and/or compliance tax experience.
Experience in the leasing industry or a comparable field.
Associate's degree required.
Excellent communication skills.
Strong customer service orientation.
Excellent analytical ability.
Knowledge of Microsoft Office products.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in Business, such as Business Administration, Finance, or Accounting.
InfoLease or CCH experience.
Working toward a CMI designation or another related certification in the compliance tax field.

Responsibilities

Conduct sales and property tax reviews and analysis on pending leases and provide accurate tax codes for new lease requests.
Perform post-booking internal audits of new lease setup in the system of record.
Review and research regulatory and statutory changes to sales and property tax law and assess their impact on the leasing process.
Research state regulations relevant to tax issues arising during dispute resolution.
Facilitate sales and property tax refunds with customers.
Maintain and improve sales tax resources for the commercial leasing sales force, including communicating new and updated tax regulations.
Provide guidance and expertise to the line of business during the lease documentation process.
Coordinate sales tax amendment requests arising from customer disputes or errors with the Corporate Sales Tax team to support timely, accurate amended returns or appeals.
Support the Corporate Tax team with sales tax audit requests from taxing authorities by compiling lease information and researching applicable regulations.
Manage the property tax vendor relationship, including reviewing asset data and data exchanges, returns, billing issues and collections, and annual SOX reviews.
Assist with amended returns or appeals resulting from property tax disputes or double assessments.
Assist Corporate Tax and other Bancorp departments with acquisitions and other due diligence requirements as needed.
Support continuous improvement initiatives that enhance data accuracy and reporting efficiency.
Coordinate with Finance and/or Corporate Tax to ensure accurate accounting of sales and property tax activities and compile data for reconciliations.
Facilitate sales tax reconciliation for the syndicated portfolio and support accounting as needed.
Work with the Corporate Tax Lease Administration Specialist to compile sales tax data for periodic filings on serviced syndication accounts.
Support projects for automation and integration of syndication accounts as they relate to sales and property tax reporting.
Research and prepare monthly property tax reconciliations, provide journal entries, and complete RSR as necessary.
Research customer disputes related to sales and property tax billings and recommend resolutions with management and other resources.
Assist with researching and responding to customer account payment application issues.
Support other commercial staff members as needed to promote customer service and teamwork.
Perform other duties as assigned and adapt to new tasks or changing priorities.