Excise Tax Examiner 4 - Lodging

State of Washington•Thurston County – Tumwater, WA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

This recruitment is open to current Washington State Department of Revenue employees only. The Taxpayer Account Administration (TAA) division is announcing an opportunity for an Excise Tax Examiner 4 (ETE 4) position. TAA administers programs including forest excise tax, fish tax, cigarette and other tobacco products taxes, local sales tax, tax incentives, and reseller permits. The division is also responsible for the distribution of state and local taxes, ensuring compliance with the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, and returning unclaimed property (UCP) to the rightful owners. This role offers a supportive team environment that values open exchange of ideas, problem-solving, and continuous improvement in usability and customer service. The core values of TAA are accuracy, efficiency, sharing new ideas, and kindness, with a belief in collective success and a cooperative, supportive environment. The position offers challenging work with a consistent flow of tasks, daily variety, and opportunities for growth and development, including teleworking options and flexible work schedules.

Requirements

Proven ability to independently research, interpret, and apply Washington excise tax laws, rules, policies, and procedures, supported by progressive experience gathering and validating information from multiple sources, identifying key questions, evaluating ambiguous or complex situations, assessing legislative and reporting impacts, and providing well-reasoned, authoritative guidance to staff to improve program accuracy and operational efficiency.
Demonstrated ability to prepare accurate and professionally written determinations, notices, and account actions, shown through progressive experience preparing credit/debit notices, amended assessments, Administrative Review responses, and other technical documents requiring clarity, accuracy, and legal supportability.
Proven ability to deliver effective training and presentations, applying verbal communication skills gained through progressive experience such as conducting staff trainings, facilitating workshops, presenting to groups, or providing educational support in professional or organizational settings.
Demonstrated ability to provide guidance, support, and constructive feedback to staff, shown through experience training new examiners, reviewing work for accuracy, answering escalated questions, and offering recommendations to management on policy or procedural issues.
Proven leadership ability demonstrated through progressive experience providing direction, facilitating teamwork, fostering trust through professionalism, anticipating long-term challenges, and motivating others to align with shared goals and vision, supported by applicable knowledge and skills in leadership and organizational effectiveness.
Proven ability to apply strong critical thinking, decision-making, and independent judgment within established authority levels, obtained through conducting methodical research, analyzing complex or ambiguous situations, evaluating incomplete or conflicting information, and preparing well-reasoned recommendations while considering procedural gaps, consequences, and established authority levels.
Proven ability to manage time and organize work effectively, demonstrated through independently prioritizing duties, meeting deadlines, balancing multiple assignments, and completing both routine tasks and complex projects despite frequent interruptions, supported by applicable knowledge and skills in workload management and organization.
Ability to take action to learn and grow.
Ability to take action to meet the needs of others.
Uses an equitable and inclusive approach.

Nice To Haves

One year as an Excise Tax Examiner 3
Two years Department of Revenue experience at the journey level in accounting, auditing, compliance or tax administration.
A bachelor’s degree with major study in business administration, public administration, accounting, finance, or a closely related field, and one year of professional experience in accounting, auditing, bookkeeping, banking, compliance, or tax administration
Completion of at least 6 semester (9 quarter) hours of coursework in accounting, business law, money and banking, finance, or closely related subjects.
Knowledge of the legislative process.
Understand the local tax distribution process.
Knowledge of and or experience in supervisory practices.
Experience completing and delivering work reviews to others.
Six years of experience in accounting, banking, auditing, tax compliance or tax administration, provided candidate has experience working with the Department’s mission critical systems.
Has an intermediate understanding of Lean Six Sigma methodologies, principles and practices.
Actively works to continue to improve job effectiveness and efficiency; accepts personal responsibility to develop talents and knowledge.

Responsibilities

Independently resolves the full scope of financial examinations of business accounts, tax returns, audit reports, or assessments to ensure proper identification, assessment, and distribution of taxes consistent with statutory and administrative requirements.
Assists the division in achieving its annual revenue commitment to the legislature through account research, examination, and assessment for tax liability.
Supports the Lodging team, Local Sales Tax team, and the Local Finance team.
Completes thorough reviews of each local jurisdiction’s taxes on an ongoing basis.
Completes monthly testing for local tax distribution.
Tests rates, proofreads documents, and composes communications to support the local tax quarterly rate change processes.
Compiles return data in accordance with local jurisdiction data sharing agreements.
Updates data sharing agreements with local jurisdictions.
Assists with local tax risk mitigation efforts.
Performs legislative expenditure analysis for local tax bills for the division.
Assists and provides guidance to division staff with interpretive questions related to local tax.
Performs math and theory review of local tax and division wide desk examinations.