How to hire a tax internship

How to hire a tax internship, step by step

Here's a step-by-step tax internship hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a tax internship job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new tax internship
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your tax internship job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a tax internship for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect tax internship also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents tax internship salaries for various positions.

   Type of Tax Internship	Description	Hourly rate
   Tax Internship		$14-34
   Accountant	An accountant is a professional whose primary task is to prepare, keep, examine, and interpret financial records. Most accountants are in charge of a wide scope of finance-related tasks, either for private individuals or for large-scale businesses and organizations they are employed with... Show more	$19-34
   Fund Accountant	A fund accountant provides accounting for an investment portfolio. The investments needed include commodities, securities, and/or real estate in an investment fund like a hedge fund or mutual fund... Show more	$21-38

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • First Hand
   • CPA
   • Taxation
   • Tax Planning
   • Local Tax Returns
   • Tax Issues
   • Tax Regulations
   • Income Tax Returns
   • Tax Compliance
   • PowerPoint
   • Financial Statements
   • Tax Return Preparation
   • Tax Research
   • IRS

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage client accounts by organizing and categorizing financial data in QuickBooks files.
   • Enter clients info on w-2 for tax preparers.
   • Amortize treasury bonds, company own stocks and bonds.
   • Prepare tax returns for individuals, corporations, businesses, partnerships and provide CPA's with add help where need
   • Answer phones, make appointments, solve issues clients have, input data w-2 information conduct interview and collect signatures.
   • Learned from working closely with veteran CPA's in a small and personal office space where growth and interaction are encouraged.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your tax internship job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A tax internship can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, tax interns' average salary in north carolina is 60% less than in rhode island.
   • Seniority. Entry-level tax interns 58% less than senior-level tax interns.
   • Certifications. A tax internship with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a tax internship's salary.

   Average tax internship salary

   $46,283yearly

   $22.25 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level tax internship salary

   $30,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

4. Writing a tax internship job description

   A job description for a tax internship role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a tax internship job description:

   Tax internship job description example

   As a 4-time winner of the Best Places to Work in Kentucky award, we are proud to provide a positive work environment, a supportive culture, and excellent training . When you join our team, we enthusiastically welcome who you are and nurture who you want to become. As part of our work family, you benefit from leaders that are dedicated to helping their team members excel, the flexibility to do your best work, an inclusive culture, and many opportunities for advancement . Join an accounting firm that's less firm, more flexible !

   What Our Employees Are Saying

   "Strothman is a great place to work. There are plenty of opportunities for advancement, and the management team truly seems to want you to succeed and excel." - Tax Accountant

   "Strothman and Co is an excellent place to work, the leaders really care about their employees and are super laid back and easy to talk with." - Administrator

   A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A TAX INTERN

   In this internship, you gain valuable experience and learn from experts in the field. You actively seek to learn techniques and develop your skills as you perform staff-level procedures. You summarize client financial data as well as prepare individual and corporate tax returns. In all of your work, you apply a high level of accuracy and attention to detail. You are happy to help wherever needed by assisting with scanning documents, making copies, and updating records as well as research and analysis. You feel great knowing that you are a valuable part of our tax preparation team!

   TAX INTERN QUALIFICATIONS

   • Proficiency in Microsoft Office
   • Currently enrolled in classes at a college or university

   Are you highly organized and detail-oriented? Do you have excellent verbal and written communication skills? Are you eager to learn? If yes, you might just be perfect for this internship position!

   ARE YOU READY TO JOIN OUR TEAM?

   If you feel that you would be right for this internship, please fill out our initial 3-minute, mobile-friendly application . We look forward to meeting you!

   Location: 40202, 47150, 40299

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right tax internship for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with tax interns they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit tax interns who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your tax internship job on Zippia to find and attract quality tax internship candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as efinancialcareers, financialjobsweb.com, careerbank, financial job bank.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit tax interns, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new tax internship

   Once you've found the tax internship candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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