Tax investigator vs criminal investigator

The differences between tax investigators and criminal investigators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a criminal investigator has an average salary of $54,520, which is higher than the $35,077 average annual salary of a tax investigator.

The top three skills for a tax investigator include tax laws, state tax and customer service. The most important skills for a criminal investigator are investigative reports, resourcefulness, and firearms.

Tax investigator vs criminal investigator overview

	Tax Investigator	Criminal Investigator
Yearly salary	$35,077	$54,520
Hourly rate	$16.86	$26.21
Growth rate	-7%	3%
Number of jobs	30,630	5,131
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	48	44
Years of experience	2	-

Tax investigator vs criminal investigator salary

Tax investigators and criminal investigators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Tax Investigator	Criminal Investigator
Average salary	$35,077	$54,520
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $53,000	Between $34,000 And $85,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	National Railroad Passenger Corporation
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between tax investigator and criminal investigator education

There are a few differences between a tax investigator and a criminal investigator in terms of educational background:

	Tax Investigator	Criminal Investigator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Accounting	Criminal Justice
Most common college	University of Southern California	-

Tax investigator vs criminal investigator demographics

Here are the differences between tax investigators' and criminal investigators' demographics:

	Tax Investigator	Criminal Investigator
Average age	48	44
Gender ratio	Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7%	Male, 79.7% Female, 20.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.1% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 8.1% White, 62.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 2.8% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	9%

Differences between tax investigator and criminal investigator duties and responsibilities

Tax investigator example responsibilities.

Investigate welfare, Medicaid, and food stamp fraud.
Work in conjunctions with the FBI, IRS and various corporations to help control tax loss and fraud.
Update taxpayers addresses, assign temporary ITIN numbers to taxpayers without a social security number, establish fiduciary accounts for taxpayers
Update taxpayers addresses, assign temporary ITIN numbers to taxpayers without a social security number, establish fiduciary accounts for taxpayers

Criminal investigator example responsibilities.

Conduct joint planning and manage AFOSI's criminal investigations and counterintelligence operations in northern Italy.
Close accounts and file SAR's with FinCEN as warranted.
Write suspicious activity reports (SAR).
Follow up on sub reviews and documentation require information for FinCEN reporting.
Coordinate and conduct firearms training.
Examine discovery, prepare subpoenas, and review pertinent documents.

Tax investigator vs criminal investigator skills

Common tax investigator skills

Tax Laws, 55%
State Tax, 30%
Customer Service, 15%

Common criminal investigator skills

Investigative Reports, 13%
Resourcefulness, 11%
Firearms, 11%
Treasury, 9%
Investigative Techniques, 8%
IRS, 6%

Tax Investigator vs. similar jobs

Tax Investigator related careers

Tax Investigator related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Business and Financial Industry
Tax Investigator
Tax Investigator vs Criminal Investigator

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse business and financial jobs