Tax Attorney Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a tax attorney. Feel free to use our job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a tax attorney.
Who is a Tax Attorney?
Tax attorneys assist their clients in navigating and complying with the complicated system of tax rules, as well as legally taking advantage of the numerous deductions, credits, and exemptions available to them. They also help clients with tax issues. Tax lawyers in private practice help both individuals and businesses. They could also act as in-house counsel for a corporation or for the government.
When tax concerns develop, some corporations retain tax lawyers on an as-needed, contract basis. Tax concerns arise frequently in the practice of estate planning, real estate, and employment attorneys, and they may seek help from a tax attorney.
Tax attorneys are in high demand because of their expert knowledge of the complexities of tax law. They are frequently hired to help clients better understand the laws that govern taxation and what they must do to stay in compliance. They are frequently hired to deal with personal wealth difficulties such as the tax implications of an inheritance or an estate transfer. They advise clients on establishing or altering trusts and wills, as well as overseeing the allocation of financial and material assets among beneficiaries. They may also testify at audit hearings on behalf of their clients to negotiate the reduction or removal of tax obligations and accompanying fines, as well as the cancellation of liens.
Despite the fact that a variety of agencies, including municipal, federal, and state governments, are responsible for formulating and implementing tax legislation, many tax relief attorneys specialize in IRS-related matters. They may represent clients during an IRS audit, coordinate and monitor IRS settlement structuring, and collaborate with other tax professionals such as CPAs to organize and prepare tax papers in this capacity. Clients will also be represented by tax attorneys in IRS hearings and administrative appeals, as well as in the United States Tax Court, the Court of Appeals, and, if necessary, the United States Supreme Court.
Tax Attorney Job Description
Below are the tax attorney job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
- Assist companies, organizations, and people with tax-related legal challenges. This includes assisting businesses in reducing their tax liability risk.
- Represent clients in tax disputes with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or other taxing authorities. Tax Attorney jobs might be less stressful than other legal specialties, according to legal industry watchers and thought leaders. It’s also seen as a fairly solid area of practice because taxes aren’t going away anytime soon.
- Knowledgeable about tax rules and regulations, as well as accounting and company law.
- Possess skills that are common to most attorney roles, such as written and spoken communication, research, and negotiation.
- Advise and counsel clients on tax-related legal issues ranging from limiting tax obligations to audits, mergers, and acquisitions, and prosecuting tax-related disputes with government authorities.
- litigate tax concerns in court, If necessary.
- Prepare motions and court briefs and file them.
- Deal with tax settlements.
Qualifications
A bachelor’s degree and a JD are required qualifications for tax attorneys. A law degree does not guarantee employment. Finding a job as an attorney can be difficult and competitive.
Students interested in becoming tax attorneys should major in accounting, business, or math during their undergraduate education. A bachelor’s degree is required for entrance to virtually all law schools. A JD program starts with a broad-based curriculum that covers areas including torts, contracts, civil procedure, constitutional law, and legal research and writing. Students can pursue elective courses in their fields of interest throughout their second and third years.
Introduction to federal tax, taxation of corporations and shareholders, tax practice and procedure, and international taxation are common classes for aspiring tax lawyers. While some colleges provide JDs in taxes, the majority offer JD/LLM dual degrees. Students can also choose to pursue dual degrees, such as a JD/MBA.
Tax attorneys with a JD degree but no taxation qualification can still practice, but they must finish extensive courses in tax and business areas.
To take the bar exam and achieve licensure, most state bar associations require candidates to have degrees from Bar-accredited law schools around the country. Furthermore, most law firms only hire graduates from schools that have been accredited by the country’s Bar Association. There are non-accredited and state-accredited schools, but they mainly go nowhere.
Essential Skills of a Tax Attorney
- Skills in accounting and mathematics
To work as a tax lawyer, you do not require an accounting or mathematics degree; however, you will need basic arithmetic and accounting skills. A tax lawyer deals with income tax, real estate planning, trusts and estates, securities, contracts, and bankruptcy, therefore these subjects could include basic accounting, derivatives, calculus, and statistics. However, who would hire a tax attorney with inadequate accounting and math skills in the first place?
- Problem-Solving
The most important talents required to develop a profitable practice are creativity and complicated problem-solving. Your clients want you to come up with innovative and realistic tax-related solutions. These abilities are impressive in this subject, given the large range of activities and regions covered by tax legislation.
Tax law attracts legal students with creative problem-solving talents. Tax issues are more like puzzles. As a result, students with these abilities frequently aspire to be tax lawyers.
- Skills in Legal and Fact-Finding
In the majority of tax law disputes, legal and factual research is crucial. As a tax lawyer, you must not only interpret a statute correctly but also devise a workable solution to a complex tax situation. As a result, it’s critical to hone your legal and fact-checking abilities. Because tax rules change nearly every year, a tax lawyer must grasp legal research and writing skills.
You must also examine non-legal facts in your case when putting together a good argument. This is when your fact-checking abilities come into play. Non-legal research might be used to gather background information, locate expert witnesses, or complete your case’s due diligence.
- Communication Capabilities
Excellent communication skills would undoubtedly help you become a better tax lawyer. On a daily basis, tax lawyers frequently have to work directly with their clients, let alone collaborators. They must also negotiate on behalf of their clients with state tax agencies and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officers. In either situation, they’ll need great communication and interpersonal skills to make a compelling and cohesive case.
Being a successful tax lawyer is not as straightforward as it sounds, given the complexity of tax law and the severe competition in the legal profession. You can, however, ascend the success ladder with the help of a few special qualities. These abilities can help you develop a professional reputation among your peers, from generating new leads to cooperating with industry leaders.
- Ability to Analyze
The investigation of legal difficulties, opposition arguments, and probable results is the first step in finding a practical solution to any tax problem. Strong analytical skills are essential for advising your clients on the best course of action. If your case offers more than one reasonable answer, you may have to choose the most appropriate resolution. Strong analytical skills can help you explain hard issues to your clients in terms they can grasp, in addition to finding a practical solution.
- Writing Capabilities
The legal profession requires a lot of writing. Everything from disputes to emails and letters is included. For a good tax lawyer, the ability to articulate legal opinions and findings is essential. Though tax cases seldom go to trial, strong writing abilities can aid in the preparation of a compelling plea bargain. They may also assist you in expressing all of your important points in a concise manner.
Writing abilities are important in composing legal documents, in addition to preparing courtroom arguments. For their clients, tax lawyers are frequently required to draft sophisticated legal documents such as contracts, settlement offers, plea bargains, and confidentiality agreements. There will be no “holes” in any of these documents if you have excellent writing skills.
Structured finance, for example, necessitates extensive research and analysis. However, because it entails sending memos and emails to colleagues lawyers, and clients, this sophisticated legal process also necessitates great writing skills.
During this process, you may need to write numerous rough drafts and discuss them with your coworkers.
- Collaborative abilities
Collaboration has been a necessity in practically all industries since the beginning of globalization. This trend is not limited to the legal profession, particularly tax law. On anything from local to international tax matters, tax lawyers frequently have to collaborate with other lawyers or non-legal specialists. A lawyer’s collaborative talents allow him or her to function in a multi-party setting.
Despite the fact that many large firms and commercial organizations have in-house legal departments, they frequently lack tax competence. As a result, they work with tax law companies to help them with their most complex tax challenges. For a start-up, tax planning and financial structure may entail collaboration with in-house tax personnel, financiers, and investors, as well as the CEO, CFO, and COO, among others.
How to Become a Tax Attorney
- Obtain a Bachelor’s Degree
A tax lawyer usually has a business or accounting background. You can get this background by completing a business or accounting undergraduate degree program. You must have a bachelor’s degree in order to get into Law school
- Submit an application to law school
Before applying to law school, you must prepare for and take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), a standardized exam that assesses reading comprehension as well as logical and analytical reasoning. You can construct your law school applications or use the Law School Admission Council’s Credential Assembly Service to help you submit them after you obtain your LSAT scores.
- The Law School Admission Council recommends that students examine tuition, location, student body size, and the overall quality of the school while choosing a law school. Lawyers must be graduates of an American Bar Association-accredited law school in order to practice law in any state.
- Look for a job as an intern.
By doing a summer or semester internship with a tax law firm while in law school, you can obtain practical experience in the field. Internships at law firms can be found through department bulletin boards and the American Bar Association. Student organizations such as the law review and the political science club offer additional opportunities for experience and networking.
- Certification
You can sit for the state bar examination in your state after completing law school and earning a Juris Doctor (JD). State bar standards differ, but in order to practice law, all lawyers must pass a state bar test.
- Continue your education and look for work.
While some lawyers may choose to practice tax law right away, others may want to pursue a Master of Laws in Taxation to ensure that they have a thorough understanding of the subject. In order to keep their licenses, all lawyers must take continuing education courses.
Where to Work
Corporations
Tax attorneys act as part of a legal team, engaging with other in-house counsel, company officers, and board members to provide continuing legal support to their corporate clients.
Governmental Organizations
Tax Attorneys work for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as well as state and local governments and entities that deal with taxation. These employees work for the government.
Private Practice
Tax attorneys who work in private practice can form small businesses or partnerships with other lawyers. They can also work as solo practitioners, assisting individuals and small businesses with tax issues such as property taxes, estate planning, and payroll.
Law firms
Attorneys in a firm’s tax department collaborate to help higher-income people, corporations, and businesses with a variety of tax concerns.
Litigation firms
As skilled trial lawyers with a specific understanding of tax litigation, litigators represent clients in federal, state, and/or municipal tax courts and tribunals.
Tax Attorney Salary Scale
As of November 29, 2021, the average Tax Attorney IV salary in the United States is $199,394, however, the range frequently ranges between $172,144 and $228,459. Salary ranges depend on various factors including schooling, certifications, supplementary talents, and the number of years you’ve worked in your field.
In Nigeria, a tax advisor earns about 375,000 NGN per month on average. The lowest salary is 203,000 NGN, and the highest is 566,000 NGN (highest).
This is the monthly average paid, which includes housing, transportation, and other perks. Salaries for tax advisors vary widely depending on their level of experience, abilities, gender, and region.
