How to hire a tax specialist

How to hire a tax specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step tax specialist 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 specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new tax specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a tax specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a tax specialist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A tax specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, tax specialists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents tax specialist salaries for various positions.

   Type of Tax Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Tax Specialist		$17-42
   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
   Tax Internship	A tax intern is responsible for supporting the finance and accounting department on preparing tax documents, including analyzing financial statements and performing account reconciliations, under the supervision of a tenured tax preparer. Tax interns observe tax processes, shadowing the staff on daily operations, and utilizing their classroom knowledge to practical applications by recommending strategic procedures to handle tax filings efficiently and accurately... Show more	$14-34

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • IRS
   • Customer Service
   • Tax Compliance
   • Tax Issues
   • Taxation
   • Appeals
   • Tax Payments
   • Tax Audits
   • Treasury
   • Tax Software
   • Data Entry
   • Tax Notices
   • Reconciliations
   • Income Statement

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Operate industry-specific taxation software to complete the tax returns.
   • Author of several articles on topics of international taxation.
   • Prepare and electronically file accurate and timely individual tax returns base on IRS regulations and company policies.
   • Conduct confidential interviews with individuals/couples using current IRS and state laws and manually or electronically file returns through proprietary software.
   • Prepare quarterly and annual tax accruals and return-to-provision calculations.
   • Analyze historical property tax for multiple internal divisions to accurately forecast current year expenses and support annual accruals.

   More tax specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the tax specialist job description is a good way to get more applicants. A tax specialist salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a tax specialist in Kansas may be lower than in Rhode Island, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level tax specialist. Additionally, a tax specialist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average tax specialist salary

   $57,168yearly

   $27.48 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level tax specialist salary

   $36,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average tax specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Connecticut	$78,957	$38
   2	New York	$74,789	$36
   3	California	$74,618	$36
   4	Massachusetts	$69,708	$34
   5	Washington	$69,478	$33
   6	Texas	$67,356	$32
   7	District of Columbia	$66,657	$32
   8	Georgia	$62,703	$30
   9	Minnesota	$62,488	$30
   10	Michigan	$61,097	$29
   11	Colorado	$59,816	$29
   12	Pennsylvania	$56,908	$27
   13	Wyoming	$56,825	$27
   14	Illinois	$56,417	$27
   15	Maryland	$56,240	$27
   16	Arizona	$51,197	$25
   17	Missouri	$50,515	$24
   18	Ohio	$50,421	$24
   19	Indiana	$49,906	$24
   20	Virginia	$49,299	$24

   Average tax specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	STMicroelectronics	$103,434	$49.73
   2	ConocoPhillips	$100,373	$48.26	4
   3	Entegris	$99,507	$47.84
   4	ORIX USA	$98,220	$47.22	1
   5	Barclays	$93,718	$45.06
   6	American Tower	$92,046	$44.25
   7	Southern California Edison	$90,341	$43.43	1
   8	BNY Mellon	$88,432	$42.52	7
   9	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$87,852	$42.24	18
   10	Ernst & Young	$86,926	$41.79	2,389
   11	Marathon Petroleum	$85,828	$41.26	14
   12	Jefferies	$85,522	$41.12	1
   13	MUFG EMEA	$84,363	$40.56
   14	Bain & Company	$83,395	$40.09
   15	Celanese	$83,258	$40.03	3
   16	Systemax	$81,422	$39.15
   17	AbbVie	$80,689	$38.79	2
   18	Capital One	$79,404	$38.17	2
   19	The PNC Financial Services Group	$77,656	$37.33	4
   20	Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	$77,442	$37.23

4. Writing a tax specialist job description

   A tax specialist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a tax specialist job description:

   Tax specialist job description example

   The main responsibilities include:• The Tax & Statutory accounting Specialist is responsible for supervise and drive all operational tax with the Tax advisor in Country.This role will ensure tax activities are aligned to Alcon global tax strategy and follows local laws as well as international standards (OECD/BEPS).
   
   • The role will lead and prepare the tax reporting package (FCRS tax related and OTP) according Alcon Manual of Accounting (AMA) and the specific requirements for Local Country from Global Tax related to tax forecast, legal processes, among others.
   
   • The role will be responsible for tax compliance matters including indirect tax, corporate tax, withholding tax, stamp duty, capital gain taxes, customs duties, transfer pricing and ad-hoc tax projects. This includes the SOX302 and Legal Docket.
   
   • The role will lead the transfer price review from the forecast perspective to address the accomplishment of local tax law avoiding tax adjustments. Also the role will work with the tax advisor to prepare the Transfer price local requirements in country
   
   • The role will be responsible for the statutory accounting books driving the differences between the reporting GAAP (IFRS) and the Local GAAP (IFRS for Local Country).
   
   • The position will act as SPOC (single point of contact) with the external auditor for the country ensuring the Financial Statements issuance according to the Local Country law and deadlines
   
   • The role will lead the local advisory team to prepare the specific statutory reporting applicable for the country such as Financial Statements and any others local statutory accounting requirement.• They will ensure all processes, policies, procedures, and controls are fully defined and detailed.
   Requirements:
   
   • University level degree in Public Accounting• Chartered Accountant (CIMA, ACA, ACCA or CPA) or Chartered Tax Accountant• Uruguay and/ or Chile tax and accounting experience preferred but not mandatory• English intermediate level ( Conversation, read and write)• Experience across Tax and / or Accounting• Has held positions in Tax or accounting departments for at least 2 years.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find tax specialists for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any tax specialists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level tax specialists with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit tax specialists, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   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 specialist

   Once you've found the tax specialist 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 also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new tax specialist. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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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How much does it cost to hire a tax specialist?