General Attorney (Tax) - Special Counsel (Criminal Tax)
What you'd do
With nearly 1,700 attorneys, IRS Chief Counsel is the largest tax law firm nationwide. Our attorneys are among top tax law practitioners and some of the very best legal minds found anywhere. Together with the IRS, we serve the public by applying the tax code with fairness and integrity. After pausing hiring in 2025, we now seek new law graduates and experienced attorneys to join us. Click to learn more: IRS Office of Chief Counsel Careers Site Meet Our People Learn about our Legal Divisions
Major duties
As a General Attorney (Tax) - Special Counsel (Criminal Tax), you will: Act as a legal tax consultant and privileged communication and "taint" review team leader and subject matter expert to the Division Counsel and Deputy Division Counsel-Criminal Tax (CT), with responsibility for personally handling, and performing technical review of some of the office's most complex, important, or novel assignments, particularly those with broad, or potentially controversial ramifications especially in the area of protected "privileged" communications. Responsible for rendering legal advice on protected communications and the operation of "privilege" or "taint" review teams that are tasked with identifying privileged communications and safeguarding the confidential communications from the investigative team. Provide legal services on program matters, including tax issues relating to investigations and prosecutions of violations of internal revenue laws, the Bank Secrecy Act, cybercrimes and electronic crimes, money laundering, and other white-collar crimes; special investigative techniques employed by Criminal Investigations (CI); and criminal and civil forfeitures initiated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Ensure such products are technically complete and adhere to office policy, and exercises signatory authority on own and others' products in accordance with delegated authority. Apply a high level of sophisticated analysis and research to identify and assess approaches to make recommendations on behalf of the Office to program executives and managers. Interact with personnel from other Counsel offices, IRS, Department of Justice, Treasury, other Federal agencies, and/or others on behalf of CT to exchange information or coordinate actions in the handling and completion of assignments. Research complex legal issues and trends affecting CI investigations and determines likely legal ramifications on CI enforcement programs. Ensure that the legal or administrative consequences of potential actions to handle these issues are fully considered. This is not an all-inclusive list.
What you need to qualify
In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements detailed below by the closing date of this announcement. 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) - Special Counsel (Criminal Tax) you must meet the qualification requirements listed below by the closing of this announcement: Basic Requirements for General Attorney -Special Counsel (Criminal 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-15 Experience Requirements: 1 year of general professional legal experience from any area of expertise; plus 3 year of professional legal tax experience Professional Legal Tax Experience is defined as: Experience in prosecuting, defending, investigating, advising, and/or reviewing criminal matters; and/or Experience with criminal and/or civil privilege review/taint reviews. 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 (GS-14). Note: Only experience gained after Bar Admission may be credited as Professional Legal Experience. Education Substitution: An LL.M. degree in the field of the position (Taxation, Tax Litigation, Corporate Tax, or International Tax Law) 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.
Before you apply
Federal applications are different: your resume should be 3–5 pages and mirror the language of this announcement. Read our federal resume guide first — it's the #1 reason qualified people get screened out.
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