Clarification from the agency

Open to U.S. Citizens/Nationals

The following are the duties of this position at the full working level. If this vacancy includes more than one grade and you are selected at a lower grade level, you will have the opportunity to learn to perform these duties and receive training to help you grow in this position.

• Conducts independent examinations of the most complex estate and gift returns with a considerable number of complex and unusual issues requiring extensive tax law research, state law knowledge, investigation, and analysis.
• Determines the issues and audit techniques needed to resolve issues.
• Researches various complex Federal, state and foreign laws that may be without precedent or involve conflicting precedents to arrive at a determination of the federal estate and gift tax implications of the transactions.
• Determines the nature of included assets, analyzes transactions, investigates underlying facts, evaluates the fair market value of real estate, business interests, and other type of financial and investment assets for assigned returns.
• Conducts extensive legal research and analyzes the taxpayer's legal documents to identify the transferred interest.

Conditions of employment

• Probationary Period - All newly appointed employees to the competitive (or excepted) service are subject to a probationary (or trial) period. During this time, your performance, conduct, and suitability for continued employment will be evaluated. You will not automatically convert to permanent status at the end of the probationary (or trial) period. Your supervisor must affirmatively determine that continued employment is in the best interest of the Federal service. If no certification is made before the probationary (or trial) period ends, your appointment will be terminated. You are encouraged to actively engage with your supervisor, seek feedback, and understand role expectations. Additional guidance and support will be provided during onboarding.
• Government Credit Card - Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.

• U.S Citizenship - Must be a U.S. Citizen or National and provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• Selective Service Registration - Males born after December 31, 1959 are required to be registered with the Selective Service System or prove they are exempt from having to do so.
• Personal Identity Verification (PIV) - Must provide 2 forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. These documents must be unexpired original or certified copies.

Qualifications

Federal experience is not required. Experience may have been gained in the public sector, private sector or through Volunteer Service. One year of experience refers to full-time work; part-timework is considered on a prorated basis. To ensure full credit for your work experience, please indicate dates of employment by month/day/year, and indicate number of hours worked per week, on your resume.

You must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Specialized Experience GS-11:
You must have 1 year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Working in a legal environment in which you provided technical advice about legal requirements, conducted legal research and analysis, or prepared written opinions, decisions, and/or proposals on matters specific to tax administration or compliance.
• Applying federal tax laws, various state and foreign laws, judicial decisions, and precedents to advise parties on proper legal requirements.
• Researching and evaluating legal questions involving state and federal laws.
• Analyzing findings of fact and critically evaluating the information secured to reach determinations supported by federal, state and local laws and court decisions.

• Working in a legal environment whereby you provided technical advice and guidance on federal tax law requirements.
• Conducting legal research and analysis on federal or state tax laws.
• Authoring legal opinions, decisions, determinations, or proposals on matters involving federal tax laws, rules, and/or regulations.
• Working with Federal, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfer tax laws, including Internal Revenue Code, Tax Regulations, IRS Revenue rulings and procedures and precedent decisions.
• Analyzing tax matters, appeals, settlement offers, or similar work related to federal tax operations.

AND

You must also meet the following requirements:

• MINIMUM AGE REQUIREMENT: Minimum age for federal employment is 18 years old, or at least 16 years old and have:
  • Graduated from high school or been awarded a certificate equivalent to graduating from high school; or
  • Completed a formal vocational training program; or
  • Received a statement from school authorities agreeing with your preference for employment rather than continuing your education.

For more information on qualifications please refer to OPM's Qualifications Standards.

How you will be evaluated

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

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. Applicants who disqualify themselves will not be evaluated further.

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

Rating: Category rating will be used to rank and select eligible candidates. If qualified, you will be assigned to one of three quality level categories, CAT A, CAT B or CAT C.

Referral: Eligible applicants rated in the highest category group, may be referred to a selecting official for consideration. Candidates, if required to participate in a selection interview (telephonic and/or in person at the discretion of the Selecting Official in accordance with hiring practices), will be interviewed in category group order. We will not reimburse costs related to the interview such as travel to and from the interview site

Veterans' preference is applied after applicants are assessed. Qualified preference eligibles who have a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more (CPS, CP) are placed at the top of the highest category on the referral list (except for scientific or professional positions at the GS-9 level or higher). Remaining preference eligibles are placed above non-preference eligibles within their assigned category.

If you are a displaced or surplus Federal employee (eligible for the Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP)/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP), you must receive a rating of category CATB to be rated as "well qualified" to receive special selection priority.

If you are selected, you will be subject to all requirements listed in the Requirements, Qualifications, and Additional Information sections of this announcement which includes, Prior Employment/Tax Checks, Fingerprint/Criminal History checks.

The following documents are required and must be provided with your application. All application materials, including transcripts, must be in English.
Incomplete or insufficient information may result in not being considered for the position, or not receiving special consideration for which you may be eligible. Please view Application Preparation or How to write a resume for federal job.

1. Resume (Failure to follow instructions, will result in not being considered.)

• Do:
  • Limit to two (2) pages. Recommend a standard 8.5x11-inch document size, a sans-serif font such as Arial or Calibri with a font size no smaller than 10-point, page margins of 0.5 inches. Applicants that attempt to circumvent the 2-page limit page limit, for example by materially reducing readability, will be deemed ineligible.
  • Include your full name.
  • Include relevant work experience - Employer Name, Job Title, Employment dates (start to end date or present), and a brief description of duties that clearly demonstrate your qualifications.
• Don't:
  • Include photographs, classified or sensitive information, SSN, encrypted/digitally signed documents, or other inappropriate content. Resumes containing prohibited information will be deemed ineligible.
  • Copy and paste duties or specialized experience from the job announcement, as this is not a demonstration of your experience.
• Additional Information:
• Pay plan, series, and grade (e.g., GS-0301-09) should be provided for all federal service jobs. Failure to do so could affect your qualification determination.
• To receive full credit for work experience, include number of hours worked per week and specific MM/DD/YYYY start and end dates for every position.
• Do not include personal information such as age, sex, religion, race, or disability.
• Do not include embedded links as they will not be opened or considered when determining qualifications.
• If you update and resubmit your application, only the most recent resume received will be considered to determine qualifications.

• Submit a copy of your transcript(s) or equivalent for positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position based on education or training. An official transcript(s) will be required if you are selected.
• High School Diploma (or equivalent) - If you are 16 or 17 years of age, you MUST submit documentation of graduation from high school (or equivalent); OR completion of a formal vocational training program; OR statement from school authorities agreeing with your decision to pursue employment rather than continuing your education.

• MUST submit a copy of your 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.
• If you are serving under active duty, provide certification from the Armed Forces that you will be discharged or released within 120 days from the date of certification. The certification must indicate your dates of service, rank and that you will be separated under honorable conditions.
• 10-point preference eligible - Submit an Application for 10-point Veteran Preference, SF-15, along with the required documentation listed on the back of the form if you are a 10-point preference eligible. For more information on claiming veterans' preference view here.

• Submit the required documentation as outlined under CTAP/ICTAP

• Submit a copy of your most recent SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action) or equivalent personnel action form which shows your grade and competitive service status.

Next steps