Internal Revenue Agent (Employee Plans Agent)

Internal Revenue Service • Glendale, AZ

5d

About The Position

The Internal Revenue Agent (Employee Plans Agent) works in the Tax Exempt & Government Entities Division, Employee Plans Examinations. Positions may be filled in the Pacific Coast, Gulf Coast, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, or Northeast Area. The role examines employee retirement plans and related employer tax matters to assess compliance with federal tax laws and regulations.

At the full working level, the agent analyzes amendments to existing plans and determines whether they adversely affect a plan’s qualification or exempt status. The agent reviews plan documents and adoption agreements to assess whether plans are pre-approved, covered by an IRS opinion letter, and timely updated for current legal requirements. When updates are not timely, the agent determines which law cycle was last met and pursues corrective action under applicable statutory or regulatory procedures, including the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS).

The agent reviews Form 5310 applications and supporting documentation to determine whether a plan met statutory and regulatory requirements on its termination date. The agent examines plan curtailments or terminations for nondiscrimination compliance and valid business reasons, reviews employer tax returns to verify contribution limits and funding deadlines, and determines whether a plan sponsor’s conduct involved fraudulent activity. The announcement covers multiple grades, and employees selected at a lower grade may receive training to perform the full-level duties.

Requirements

• Meet the accounting education or equivalent combination of education and experience basic requirement: CPA certificate; or a bachelor’s or higher degree in accounting with at least 30 semester hours in accounting, or 24 semester hours in accounting plus 6 semester hours in related subjects; or an equivalent combination of education and experience including coursework equivalent to an accounting major.
• Meet the applicable grade-level qualification requirement: GS-09 requires one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-07, qualifying graduate education, or an equivalent combination; GS-11 requires one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-09, qualifying doctoral-level graduate education, or an equivalent combination; GS-12 requires one year of specialized experience equivalent to GS-11.
• For GS-09 specialized experience, demonstrate relevant accounting or auditing knowledge and skills, including professional accounting principles and effective communication and interpersonal skills.
• For GS-11 specialized experience, demonstrate relevant accounting or auditing experience, such as applying accounting and auditing practices to tax returns, examining accounting systems and records, applying federal tax law, managing a caseload, researching issues, identifying compliance issues, and communicating technical analysis.
• For GS-12 specialized experience, demonstrate progressively responsible professional accounting or auditing experience applying accounting principles and federal tax law, analyzing business operations and financial transactions, and interacting or negotiating effectively with professionals in accounting, legal, tax, or related fields.
• Current civilian employees must meet the time-after-competitive-appointment requirement of at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest qualifying non-temporary competitive appointment.
• Meet applicable time-in-grade requirements: one year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade for positions above GS-05.
• A degree used to meet requirements generally must be from an accredited or pre-accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education; foreign education must be shown to be equivalent to conventional U.S. education.
• Obtain and use a government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
• Employment may be conditional upon classification and/or audit of federal tax returns, potentially including up to two years of returns.
• A camera application may be required to participate in the interview process.

Responsibilities

• Analyze amendments to existing plans to determine whether they adversely affect plan qualification or exempt status.
• Review plan documents and adoption agreements to determine whether a plan is pre-approved, has an IRS opinion letter, and was timely adopted for current law requirements.
• Determine which law cycle was last timely met when a plan was not accurately updated, and pursue corrective action under applicable statutory or regulatory provisions, including EPCRS.
• Review Form 5310 applications and supporting documentation to determine whether plans met statutory and regulatory requirements on the termination date.
• Examine plan curtailments or terminations for nondiscrimination compliance and whether valid business reasons existed.
• Examine employer tax returns to verify that contributions to qualified employee plans or IRA-based arrangements comply with statutory limits and funding deadlines.
• Determine whether a plan sponsor’s conduct resulted in fraudulent activity.

Benefits

• Alternative work schedules and staggered work hours may be available.
• The announcement refers applicants to IRS employee benefits information but does not enumerate specific benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level