General Attorney (Tax) (Senior Counsel)

Full Job Description

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 In order to qualify for this position of General Attorney (Tax) (Senior Counsel), 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.

Basic Requirements for General Attorney (Tax) (Senior Counsel): 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(s) of professional legal tax experience Professional Legal Tax Experience is defined as: (1) A thorough and comprehensive professional knowledge and understanding of Federal tax statutes and regulations pertaining tax matters, legal issues, regulations, and needs relevant to individuals filing Schedules C, E, F, and Form 2106, subchapter C corporations, subchapter S corporations, partnerships, estates, and trusts; and (2) a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of litigation strategies and procedures, including the ability to apply sound judgment in developing and accessing settlement options/interests..

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 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.

Time in Grade Requirement for GS-15: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-14).

Major Duties:

The Office of Division Counsel (Litigation & Advisory) (L&A) provides legal services for the Internal Revenue Service Large Business and International (LB&I) and Small Business/Self Employed (SB/SE) Divisions on tax matters, legal issues, regulations, and needs relevant to individuals filing Schedules C, E, F, and Form 2106, subchapter C corporations, subchapter S corporations, partnerships, estates, and trusts.

The Office of Division Counsel L&A is a nationwide organization headquartered in Washington, DC, divided into seven geographic areas and one nationwide strategic advisory function.

Each Area is responsible for legal work within a defined geographic group. We work with complicated issues of tax law and accounting principles in the context of an expanding global environment.

L&A employs over 960 attorneys and paralegals nationwide, who provide a full range of legal services on all issues, including advising LB&I and SB/SE compliance agents, handling litigation in the U.S.

Tax Court and referring and recommending litigation to the Department of Justice.

As a General Attorney (Tax) (Senior Counsel), you will: Provide technical written legal advice on some of the Office's most complex, important, or novel trial/case/project assignments, particularly those with broad impact or potentially controversial ramifications.

Provide legal services and strategies on tax matters that involve corporations, subchapter S corporations, partnerships, and individuals with substantial assets and complicated legal and accounting issues in the context of an expanding global environment.

Serve as lead attorney or team member with responsibility for all facets of litigation before the United States Tax Court.

This includes the development and trial of docketed cases including discovery, pretrial motions, stipulations of fact, trial, trial memoranda, and briefs or the review thereof.

Work with Department of Justice on complex refund litigation and other litigation matters.

Use knowledge of the United States Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure related to Discovery to effectively litigate cases in the United States Tax Court.

This includes using litigation technology database review tools to organize, analyze, and retrieve case data for discovery and trial preparation and using trial litigation software to litigate cases.

Exercise signatory authority on own work and work of others, under the relevant delegated authority. Apply a high level of sophisticated analysis and research to identify and assess approaches.

Make recommendations on behalf of the Office to executives and managers.

Interact with personnel from other L&A Division Counsel offices, other Counsel Divisions, IRS, Department of Treasury, Department of Justice, other Federal agencies, taxpayer's representatives, petitioner's counsel, and/or others on behalf of L&A to exchange information or coordinate actions to handle and complete assignments.

Serve as a tax expert on matters dealing with specialized taxpayer and industry groups.

Serve as team leader on large-scale L&A guidance projects, publications, and litigation matters that may include representatives from other L&A Division Counsel offices, other Counsel Divisions, or IRS.

Direct and coordinates work of other team members and oversee all related administrative and logistical matters. This is not an all-inclusive list.