What does an internal revenue agent do?
An internal revenue agent is primarily in charge of auditing and examining businesses' and individuals' financial records to ensure compliance with tax laws and payments. Their responsibilities typically revolve around reaching out to clients through calls and correspondence, arranging appointments, traveling to different locations, gathering and reviewing documentation, and even processing tax payments. Furthermore, as an internal revenue agent, it is essential to discuss and help taxpayers understand the tax laws, assist in complex procedures, and provide counseling as needed, all while adhering to the government laws and regulations.
Internal revenue agent responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real internal revenue agent resumes:
- Manage teams of cooperating agents from areas such as international taxation, employment tax, and economists when conducting tax audits.
- Utilize computer technology to access legal bulletins, IRS notices, and tax-relate court decisions.
- Conduct workshops on occasion in specific areas of the tax law and regarding IRS procedures.
- Negotiate with CPA's and attorneys to settle and close audits and assess deficiencies and refunds.
- Review and approve relief application forms.
- Generate partnerships with existing and new businesses.
- Perform full-scale financial audits of corporations and partnerships.
- Accept appeals of property valuations and determine the necessary evidence.
- Secure taxpayer's agreement to discharge tax assessment or submit contest determination to other administrative or judicial conferees for appeals hearings.
- Coordinate multibillion dollar corporate audits, including overseeing complex and highly-detail analysis to identify, develop, and finalize taxation examinations.
- Use QuickBooks software to review records and prepare reports.
Internal revenue agent skills and personality traits
We calculated that 23% of Internal Revenue Agents are proficient in Partnerships, CPA, and IRS. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Computer skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Internal Revenue Agents that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Partnerships, 23%
Developed and successfully completed on two different cases a liquidation of a partnership converting to an S-Corporation.
- CPA, 18%
Worked with taxpayers, accountants, CPA s and attorneys to obtain statements of financial condition.
- IRS, 15%
Served as liaison between New England IRS Criminal Investigation Division, 150 field agents, and US Attorney General's Office.
- Financial Transactions, 13%
Applied knowledge of corporate financial transactions and management operations and practices in order to complete comprehensive and accurate audits.
- Income Tax Returns, 9%
Planned and Conducted independent examinations and related investigations of complex income tax returns filed by individuals or business/organizational entities.
- Tax Issues, 5%
Worked closely with senior-level executives of corporate tax departments and their representatives and worked diligently to research and develop tax issues
"partnerships," "cpa," and "irs" are among the most common skills that internal revenue agents use at work. You can find even more internal revenue agent responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for an internal revenue agent to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "tax examiners and revenue agents must be able to identify questionable claims for credits and deductions and determine if claims are lawful." Additionally, an internal revenue agent resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "reviewed monthly bank statements: analysis of deposits and outflows. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for internal revenue agents to perform their duties. For an example of how internal revenue agent responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "tax examiners and revenue agents verify the accuracy of each entry on the tax returns they review." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an internal revenue agent: "detailed to irs fraud, appeals, training, planning and special programs, and information systems. ".
Organizational skills. A big part of what internal revenue agents do relies on "organizational skills." You can see how essential it is to internal revenue agent responsibilities because "tax examiners and revenue agents may work with multiple returns and a variety of financial documents." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical internal revenue agent tasks: "planned and conducted independent examinations and related investigations of complex income tax returns filed by individuals or business/organizational entities. "
The three companies that hire the most internal revenue agents are:
- U.S. Department of the Treasury3 internal revenue agents jobs
- Helbiz1 internal revenue agents jobs
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Compare different internal revenue agents
Internal revenue agent vs. Tax collector
A Tax Compliance Officer works for the IRS. This office primarily focuses on whether businesses and individual are making their necessary tax payments. Looking after the business reported revenue and paid taxes are the functions of the Tax Compliance Officer.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an internal revenue agent are more likely to require skills like "partnerships," "cpa," "irs," and "financial transactions." On the other hand, a job as a tax collector requires skills like "property tax payments," "customer service," "motor vehicle," and "real estate taxes." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that tax collectors earn slightly differ from internal revenue agents. In particular, tax collectors are 8.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an internal revenue agent. Additionally, they're 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Internal revenue agent vs. Tax compliance officer
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that internal revenue agent responsibilities requires skills like "partnerships," "cpa," "financial transactions," and "treasury." But a tax compliance officer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "tax compliance," "indirect tax," "tax planning," and "educational assistance."
Tax compliance officers may earn a lower salary than internal revenue agents, but tax compliance officers earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $46,453. On the other hand, internal revenue agents receive higher pay in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $83,517.In general, tax compliance officers achieve similar levels of education than internal revenue agents. They're 3.7% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Internal revenue agent vs. Customs examiner
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from internal revenue agent resumes include skills like "partnerships," "cpa," "irs," and "financial transactions," whereas a customs examiner is more likely to list skills in "disability claims," "quality standards," "claims processing," and "cob. "
Most customs examiners achieve a lower degree level compared to internal revenue agents. For example, they're 10.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Internal revenue agent vs. Tax examiner
Even though a few skill sets overlap between internal revenue agents and tax examiners, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an internal revenue agent might have more use for skills like "partnerships," "cpa," "financial transactions," and "treasury." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of tax examiners require skills like "tax accounts," "technical assistance," "sound judgment," and "corrective action. "
The government industry tends to pay the highest salaries for tax examiners, with average annual pay of $50,077. Comparatively, the highest internal revenue agent annual salary comes from the government industry.tax examiners reach similar levels of education compared to internal revenue agents, in general. The difference is that they're 3.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of internal revenue agent
Updated January 8, 2025
