Description
Tax compliance officers collect fees, debt, and taxes on behalf of government institutions in cities, municipalities and other jurisdictions. They perform administrative duties and communicate with other officials and institutions to ensure operations are correct and compliant with policies.
Duties
Tax compliance officers typically do the following:
- Reconcile tax liabilities withhold by the business partners against deposits and the tax administration’s transcripts monthly.
- Collect and deposit tax liabilities withhold by various business partners throughout the firm to the tax administration.
- Assist the organizations in computing accurate taxation amounts.
- Account administration of ultra high net worth clients encompassing all aspects from initial implementation through termination, emphasizing taxation.
- Update taxpayers addresses, assign temporary numbers to taxpayers without a social security number, establish fiduciary accounts for taxpayers
- Used databases, spreadsheet software to enter, revise, manipulate, store and retrieve data.
- Scrutinize taxpayer documentation utilizing software.
- Reconcile general ledgers and financial account statements to the taxpayer’s representation of income and expenses.
Other titles
The following job titles also refer to tax compliance officer:
enforcement agent
revenue compliance officer
tax payment enforcement officer
tax enforcement officer
taxpayer compliance officer
council tax officer
tax compliance agent
tax officer
Minimum qualifications
A bachelor’s degree in business administration, economics, finance, accounting, or any related field is generally preferred to work as a tax compliance officer.
In addition to this education, job training and work experience is expected. Any previous auditing or accounting experience is an asset. The formal training program covers information like bookkeeping, tax analysis and accounting. This training program is completed under the guidance of a trained and experienced tax instructor. Training can last years before a tax compliance officer is allowed to work independently or on difficult cases.
Regular continued education is expected through seminars that provide tax compliance officers with information regarding any changes in regulations and procedures. Attending educational seminars or meetings are recommended and encouraged by employers.
ISCO skill level
ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:
- the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
- the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
- the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.
Tax compliance officer is a Skill level 3 occupation.
Tax compliance officer career path
Similar occupations
These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to tax compliance officer.
tax inspector
passport officer
licensing officer
case administrator
court administrative officer
Long term prospects
These occupations require some skills and knowledge of tax compliance officer. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of tax compliance officer with a significant experience and/or extensive training.
public finance accountant
tax policy analyst
tax advisor
civil service administrative officer
bankruptcy trustee
Essential knowledge and skills
Essential knowledge
This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of tax compliance officer.
- Debt collection techniques: The techniques and principles used to collect overdue debt from customers.
- Law enforcement: The different organisations involved in law enforcement, as well as the laws and regulations in law enforcement procedures.
- Debt classification: The different classifications of debt such as public and publicly guaranteed debt, private non-guaranteed credits, central bank deposits, etc.
- Insolvency law: The legal rules regulating the incapacity to pay debts when they fall due.
- Tax legislation: Tax legislation applicable to a specific area of specialisation, such as import tax, government tax, etc.
Essential skills and competences
These skills are necessary for the role of tax compliance officer.
- Inform on fiscal duties: Inform organisations and individuals on their specific fiscal duties and the legislation and regulations involving fiscal processes, such as tax duties.
- Inspect tax returns: Inspect the documents which declare liability for taxation which is not automatically withheld from wages and salaries to ensure correct taxes are being paid by the liable individuals and organisations.
- Calculate tax: Calculate the taxes which have to be paid by an individual or organisation, or paid back by a governmental institution, compliant with specific legislation.
- Assess debtor’s financial situation: Assess the defaulter’s pecuniary circumstances by evaluating the personal income and expenses, and the balance sheet which includes the value of the house, bank account, car and other assets.
- Collect tax: Collect the amounts due to be paid to the government by organisations and individuals, following the regulations and correct calculation, ensuring no one pays more or less than they are obligated to.
- Respond to enquiries: Respond to enquiries and requests for information from other organisations and members of the public.
- Perform debt investigation: Use research techniques and tracing strategies to identify overdue payment arrangements and address them
- Advise on tax policy: Advise government officials on changes in tax policies and procedures, and the implementation of new policies on a national and local level.
- Inspect taxation documents: Inspect files and documentation dealing with taxation cases to ensure no faulty or fraudulous activity is present, and to ensure the procedure is compliant with legislation.
- Assess seizable goods: Assess the nature, quality and value of assets that can be taken by force, in possession or custody, by lawful authority.
- Handle financial disputes: Handle disputes between individuals or organisations, either public or corporate, which deal with financial matters, accounts, and taxation.
- Handle financial transactions: Administer currencies, financial exchange activities, deposits as well as company and voucher payments. Prepare and manage guest accounts and take payments by cash, credit card and debit card.
Optional knowledge and skills
Optional knowledge
This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of tax compliance officer. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
- Bookkeeping regulations: The methods and regulations involved in the process of accurate bookkeeping.
- Public finance: The economic influence of the government, and the workings of government revenue and expenditures.
- Fraud detection: The techniques used to identify fraudulous activities.
- Cadastral taxation: The taxation legislation concerning real estate and real property’s metes-and-bounds of a community.
- Accounting techniques: The techniques of recording and summarising business and financial transactions and analysing, verifying, and reporting the results.
- Office software: The characteristics and functioning of software programs for office tasks such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentation, email and database.
- Public law: The part of law which governs relationships between individuals and the government, and the relationships between individuals which concern society directly.
Optional skills and competences
These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of tax compliance officer. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
- Advise on tax planning: Advise on appropriate strategies to include taxes in the overall financial plan in order to reduce the tax load. Advise on questions related to tax legislation and provide advise on the possible implications that decisions in financial matters can cause in a tax declaration.. Advise on questions concerning things such as the creation of a company, investments, recruitments, or company successions.
- Monitor financial accounts: Handle financial administration of your department, keep the costs down to only necessary expenses and maximise the revenues of your organisation.
- Research taxation procedures: Research the procedures which regulate taxation activities such as the procedures involved in the calculation of tax for organisations or individuals, the taxation handling and inspection process, and tax returns processes.
- Use different communication channels: Make use of various types of communication channels such as verbal, handwritten, digital and telephonic communication with the purpose of constructing and sharing ideas or information.
- Keep task records: Organise and classify records of prepared reports and correspondence related to the performed work and progress records of tasks.
- Observe confidentiality: Observe the set of rules establishing the nondisclosure of information except to another authorised person.
- Check official documents: Check an individuals’ official documentation, such as driver’s licenses and identification, to ensure compliance with legal regulations, and to identify and assess individuals.
- Disseminate information on tax legislation: Provide advise on the possible implications for companies or individuals on decisions regarding tax declaration based on tax legislation. Advise on the favourable tax strategies that could be followed depending on the needs of the client.
- Manage accounts: Manage the accounts and financial activities of an organisation, supervising that all the documents are correctly maintained, that all the information and calculations are correct, and that proper decisions are being made.
- Use Microsoft Office: Possess the ability to work with the standard programs contained in Microsoft Office at a capable level. Create a document and do basic formatting, insert page breaks, create headers or footers, and insert graphics, create automatically generated tables of contents and merge form letters from a database of addresses (usually in Excel). Create auto-calculating spreadsheets, create images, and sort and filter data tables.
ISCO group and title
3352 – Government tax and excise officials
References
- Tax compliance officer – ESCO
- Tax Compliance Officer: Job Description and Education Requirements – BestAccreditedColleges.org