Appeals Officer - Settlement Officer (Appeals Program)

WHAT IS INDEPENDENT OFFICE OF APPEALS? A description of the business units can be found at: https://www.jobs.irs.gov/about/who/business-divisions Position(s) are to be filled in following area(s): Appeals - Collection Appeals Remain in POD - The vacancy will be filled at the selectee's official permanent position of record, post-of-duty (POD). REVIEW THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BELOW FOR FURTHER DETAILS

Duties

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.

• Reviews incoming cases for statutes, development of the issues by both the taxpayer and the government, completeness of supporting documents, transcripts and work papers. Reviews and analyzes information from internal and external sources to resolve issues and close cases.
• Researches case issues to determine and apply the law to the facts presented. Where issues are unclear or where a clear precedent is lacking, determines the appropriate resolution based upon relevant factors.
• Analyzes taxpayer responses and initiates contact with taxpayers to determine appropriate case resolution and provide technical and procedural information to taxpayers and their representatives by correspondence, telephone, virtually and in-person.
• Contacts taxpayers and their representatives via phone, virtual or face-to-face to conduct interviews, clarify facts and issues, and resolve problems. Deals with taxpayers and their representatives to explain procedures, law, and regulations, discuss options and administratively resolve a number of collection issues.
• Reviews information in the case file retrieved from automated and manual systems to verify compliance history and statute suspensions. Reviews and analyzes financial information that was previously investigated by Compliance. Initiates adjustments on tax accounts to ensure proper assessments, application of payments, and to resolve disputes between Compliance components and the taxpayer.

STANDARD POSITION DESCRIPTIONS (SPD): PD21102 and PD97908
Visit the IRS SPD Library to access the position descriptions.

Salary

• $61,722 - $121,371/year

Conditions of Employment

• Probationary Period - A person who is required to go through a probationary period and then is transferred, promoted, demoted, or reassigned before he or she completes such period is required to complete the remainder of the probationary period in the new position.
• Government Credit Card - Obtain and use a Government-issued charge card for business-related travel.
• Tax Audit - The employment of any candidate, including a current employee or a new hire, selected for this position may be conditional upon classification and/or audit of federal tax returns. This audit may include up to 2 years of returns.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS SHOWN IN QUALIFICATIONS SECTION

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-09: You must have one year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position must include at least three (3) of the following:

• Applying fact-finding techniques, accounting principles, and financial analysis to evaluate tax and collection issues.
• Analyzing various types of tax returns (such as 1040, 1120, 1120S, 1065, 941, 940) and documents (such as 433A, 433B, 433F, 656) to determine tax liability or the ability to pay of individual taxpayers and business and other entities.
• Communicating both orally and in writing with taxpayers and their representatives to assist in resolving tax liability issues.
• Preparing clear and accurate written correspondence and case histories that document account activity, actions taken, and findings.
• Planning and organizing workload or work products to complete assignments with changing priorities.

AND
Your experience must include:

• Researching and applying the Internal Revenue Code or Manual and related regulations and procedures to conduct detailed analytical collection determinations.

OR Master's or equivalent graduate degree or two (2) years of progressively higher-level education leading to a graduate degree such as business administration, accounting, auditing, finance, taxation, law (such as J.D.) or other related fields.
OR LL.B. or J.D. if related.
OR Combination of qualifying graduate education and experience equal to the amount required.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE GS-11: You must have (1) year of specialized experience at a level of difficulty and responsibility equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position includes:

• Applying Appeals policies, procedures, and applicable guidance to analyze cases and resolve collection issues.
• Applying knowledge of collection alternatives, including offers in compromise, installment agreements, and lien provisions, to advise taxpayers and their representatives on available resolution options.
• Applying the Internal Revenue Code, Internal Revenue Manual, court decisions, and other tax publications related to assigned areas to research cases, apply relevant tax law to the facts presented and determine the appropriate resolution of collection issues.
• Applying accounting and financial analysis techniques to analyze financial information (e.g., analyzing taxpayer transcripts, case files, financial books and records and other information to determine collectability for case resolution).
• Utilizing available on-line systems, research materials, and technology to research taxpayer information and resolve taxpayer inquiries.

AND
Your experience must include:

• Experience in communications and interpersonal relationships to work professionally with taxpayers and their representatives in resolving collection issues. Examples include contacting taxpayers and their representatives to provide tax assistance and determine appropriate case settlement/resolution.

OR A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full academic years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a doctoral degree in a related field of study such as: law (such as LL.M.), accounting, business or management, economics, math, and finance.
OR LL.M. if related
OR You may qualify by a combination of experience and education.

AND

You must also meet the following requirement(s):

• TIME AFTER COMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT (TACA): By the closing date (or if this is an open continuous announcement, by the cut-off date) specified in this job announcement, current civilian employees must have completed at least 90 days of federal civilian service since their latest non-temporary appointment from a competitive referral certificate, known as time after competitive appointment. For this requirement, a competitive appointment is one where you applied to and were appointed from an announcement open to "All US Citizens"
• TIME IN GRADE (TIG): For positions above the GS-05,applicants must meet applicable time-in-­grade requirements to be considered eligible. One year (52 weeks) at the next lower grade level is required to meet the time-in-grade requirements for the grade you are applying for. For positions at the GS-05, you cannot advance to the GS-05 if you have held a GS-02 in the past 52 weeks. There is no TIG restriction for GS-02, 03 or 04 positions.

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

Education A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page. FOREIGN EDUCATION: Education completed in foreign colleges or universities may be used to meet the requirements. You must show proof the education credentials have been deemed to be at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. education program. It is your responsibility to provide such evidence when applying. Click here (Section 3, Explanation of Terms) or here for Foreign Education Credentialing instructions. We recommend choosing an evaluator from a member organization of one of the following national associations of credential evaluation services: National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE). Other Information In the event that a building is closed due to rent management, new hires may be placed in a local commuting location. Additional jobs may be filled from this announcement or any other source to fill these vacancies. Salary: General Schedule (GS) Locality Pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages. Cost-of-Living Allowances (COLA): Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico includes COLA. See COLA Rates 2026. Required Documents

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
… Your resume should:

• Be limited to two (2) pages. Applicants with resumes exceeding two-pages will be removed from consideration. We recommend utilizing 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 for the main text, and 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. If you update your application, only the most recent resume received (uploaded under the "Resume" document type) will be considered to determine qualifications.
• Include your name and contact information.
• Include relevant work experience - Employer Name, Job Title, Employment dates (start to end date or present), number of hours worked per week, and a brief description of duties that clearly demonstrate your qualifications. To receive full credit for work experience, you must include specific MM/DD/YYYY start and end dates for every position.
• Include pay plan, series, and grade (e.g., GS-0301-09) for all federal service jobs.
• Not include photographs, classified or sensitive information, SSN, encrypted/digitally signed documents, or other inappropriate content. Resumes containing prohibited information will be deemed ineligible.
• Not include embedded links as they will not be opened or considered when determining qualifications.
• Not include personal information such as age, sex, religion, race, or disability.
• Not include specialized experience copied from the announcement or position description, as this is not a demonstration of your experience.

2. Education (if applicable) - Refer to Qualification and Education sections above for requirements

• For positions with an education requirement, or if you are qualifying for this position based on education or training, submit a copy of your transcript(s) or equivalent. An official transcript(s) will be required if you are selected.

3. Registration/License (if applicable) - Current, active registration/license

4. Performance Appraisal/Awards (strongly encouraged)

• Submit the most recent completed annual performance appraisal.
• Submit copies of any incentive/performance awards received that may have an impact on the qualifications for the position to be filled.

5. Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) (if applicable) Selection priority program for displaced or surplus federal employees:

• Review and submit the required documentation as outlined under CTAP

6. IRS Reassignment Preference Program (RPP) (if applicable)

• Submit your RPP Notice and most recent performance appraisal.
• Appraisal must reflect Fully successful or higher overall rating.

7. Current Employees Documentation (recommended if applicable)

• If applying for a higher grade and you met time-in-grade (TIG) at another agency, it is recommended that you provide an SF-50(s) (Notification of Personnel Action) (or equivalent) which demonstrates you meet the 52-week TIG requirement (e.g., Promotion with an effective date more than one (1) year old, Within-Grade-Increase at the highest grade held). Failure to provide an SF-50(s) that shows your eligibility may result in an ineligible determination.

How to Apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for and be considered for this position, you must complete all required questionnaires, assessments and submit all required documentation as specified in the How to Apply and Required Documents section. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on the closing date of the announcement to receive consideration. We are available to assist you during business hours (normally 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, please contact us by noon ET on 09/03/2026.

1. To begin the application process, click the "Apply Online" button.
2. You will be re-directed to USA STAFFING to continue your application process; answer the online questions. To preview the Application Questionnaire, please click the following link:https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13043527.
   • Upload all required documents. (To submit supporting documents, import documents from USAJOBS to the appropriate document types. If the document you need is not imported from USAJOBS, you may upload it directly into this application.)
3. Click the Submit Application button.

Reasonable Accommodations (RA): We provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact us if you require this for any part of the application and hiring process. To review reasonable accommodation policies and procedures please visit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/disability-employment/reasonable-accommodations/.

To update your application, including supporting documentation: Visit USAJOBS - How to Update Application during the announcement open period, make updates or add supporting documentation, then continue through the entire application process and click Submit Application to send updates to the hiring agency. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.

To view the job status or your application status: Visit USAJOBS - How to View Application/Job Status. Your application status page is where you can view your application status, USA Hire assessment completion status, and review your notifications sent by the hiring agency regarding your application.

Benefits As a current employee, you know the great benefits we offer. Should you have any questions about benefits, please contact the Employee Resource Center (ERC) at 1-866-743-5748 option #1 for ERC.