How To Become A Tax Attorney: What It Is and Career Path

What is a tax attorney and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Hanna Royce

Hiring a tax attorney is imperative for individuals or businesses that want to ensure they do their taxes right. Tax attorneys are responsible for resolving tax issues for their clients, helping them understand tax laws, and assisting with the development of best tax practices.

Furthermore, tax attorneys may also be responsible for maintaining tax information and other financial documents of their clients, helping businesses make financial decisions, and negotiating with federal, state, or local governments on behalf of their clients. They may either work for individuals or as a part of a company's legal team.

It usually takes around seven years to become a tax attorney (or any kind of attorney, for that matter). This includes four years of pre-law and a minimum of three years of law school. The best electives for aspiring tax attorneys include general business taxation, financial services, and estate planning, just to name a few.

Aside from a college education, tax attorneys need to pass the bar to be able to practice in their state. Upon becoming a fully-fledged tax attorney, one can expect an average salary of $82,000 or more, depending on their clients or employer.

What general advice would you give to a tax attorney?

Hanna Royce

Assistant Dean of Career Services, University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law

Graduates should keep their network active. This includes them taking the time to re-engage with the members of their network on a regular basis and continuing to make new contacts. They should make it a priority to stay in touch with their classmates and professors. They might be looking for a new position in the future, and their legal network can help them locate opportunities through the hidden job market.

Many graduates are securing remote positions. To be successful in a remote environment, employees need to make the extra effort to communicate and stay connected with colleagues. Even when employees are telecommuting, they should dress as if they are going into the office. This can help them with productivity and illustrate their professionalism when meeting with colleagues or clients.

ScoreTax AttorneyUS Average

Salary

6.7

Avg. Salary $85,681

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 6.42%

Black or African American 5.60%

Hispanic or Latino 7.83%

Unknown 4.38%

White 75.47%

Gender

female 37.28%

male 62.72%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a tax attorney

Explore tax attorney education requirements

Most common tax attorney degrees

Doctorate

42.3 %

Bachelor's

38.7 %

Master's

17.6 %

Start to develop specific tax attorney skills

Skills	Percentages
Litigation	13.03%
Law Firm	11.78%
Real Estate	8.21%
Taxation	5.06%
International Tax	3.92%

Complete relevant tax attorney training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New tax attorneys learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a tax attorney based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real tax attorney resumes.

Research tax attorney duties and responsibilities

Manage the death administration department with approximately thirty-five plus estates through trust administration, Medicaid estate recovery or probate.
Review IRS propose regulations, advisory letters and technical advice memorandums for tax litigation.
Probate practice - estates and protect individuals.
Participate in legal document review and compliance for large complex civil litigation matters.

Prepare your tax attorney resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your tax attorney resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a tax attorney resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable tax attorney resume templates

Build a professional tax attorney resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your tax attorney resume.