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Use your criminal investigative and financial experience or your bachelor’s degree or higher with accounting and related coursework to qualify for an entry-level IRS Criminal Investigator (Special Agent) employment opportunity.

As a Special Agent, you will combine your accounting skills with law enforcement skills to investigate financial crimes. Special Agents are known for their financial investigative expertise in areas such as tax fraud, public corruption, cybercrimes, narcotics, terrorism, and much more. Today's sophisticated schemes demand the analytical ability of financial investigators to trace transactions through complex financial records.

As an IRS employee, you’ll enjoy all the rights and benefits of federal employment and, as a Special Agent, you’ll use your skills and knowledge to conduct investigations relative to criminal statutes of tax administration, financial crimes, and other related offenses, which vary in levels of complexity and scope. At the same time, you’ll have that sense of public service, knowing that your investigative tax-related responsibilities contribute to everything from funding domestic programs to the defense of our nation.

At the IRS, you will be provided with career development and advancement opportunities so your career can grow with your aspirations.

Your financial investigative work will include:

• Indirect accounting methods to establish evidence
• Precedent-setting legal or investigative questions
• Highly complex or unusual accounting problems
• Information obtained from diversified sources gathered over a wide section of the country
• Interrelationship of facts and evidence that are difficult to identify because of numerous holding companies, entities, etc.
• A mixture of legal and illegal activities

You will also perform other investigative and enforcement duties such as:

• Testifying as a government witness
• Assisting the U.S. attorney during the preparation of case for trial
• Conducting collateral inquiries
• Providing protection to persons and property

In addition, you will:

• Obtain, evaluate, integrate, and recommend actions on information items to identify larger areas of noncompliance.
• Possibly serve as a team leader and/or expert consultant in the information-gathering function.
• Conduct or participate in surveillance, armed escorts, dignitary protection, undercover operations, execution of search and arrest warrants, seizures, etc.

Federal experience is not required to qualify for either of the two grade levels identified below. You will qualify for one of the following opportunities based on your specialized experience and/or education.

Specialized experience for the GS-7 grade level

You must have one (1) year of specialized experience. Specialized experience includes experience in the investigation of criminal violations (e.g., suspected crimes or alleged fraud) that provided the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the IRS Special Agent.

Experience must have included: (1) the exercise of tact, initiative, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and judgment in collecting, assembling, and developing facts, evidence, and other pertinent data through investigative techniques, which included personal interview; (2) the ability to make oral and written reports and presentations of personally conducted or personally directed investigations, examinations, or inspections; AND (3) the ability to analyze and evaluate evidence and arrive at sound conclusions. To be qualifying, this experience must have been acquired in investigative work related to the accounting or auditing of business or commercial practices of subjects investigated. 

OR,

You may substitute education for specialized experience at the GS-7 grade level as follows:

• You must be able to show Superior Academic Achievement by having a bachelor's degree with one of the following:

o A GPA of 2.95 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all completed undergraduate courses or those completed in the last two (2) years of study,

OR,

o A GPA of 3.45 or higher on a 4.0 scale for all courses in the major field of study or those courses in the major completed in the last two (2) years of study, or rank in the upper one-third of the class in the college, university, or major subdivision, or membership in a national honor society recognized by the Association of College Honor Societies.

NOTE: Superior Academic Achievement is credited only if you have completed all the requirements for a bachelor's degree which included or was supplemented by at least 15 semester/23 quarter hours in accounting, plus an additional 9 semester/14 quarter hours from among the following fields: finance, economics, business law, tax law, or money and banking (transcripts submitted must indicate receipt of a bachelor's degree).

OR, 

For the specialized experience, you can substitute one full year of graduate level education (transcripts submitted must also indicate receipt of a bachelor's degree), which included or was supplemented by at least 15 semester/23 quarter hours in accounting plus an additional 9 semester/14 quarter hours from among the following fields: business law, economics, finance, tax law, or money and banking. 

OR, 

A combination of experience and education.

Experience for the GS-9 grade level

To qualify at this grade level, you must have specialized experience equivalent to work performed at the GS-7 grade level.

OR 

You may substitute education for specialized experience at the GS-9 grade level as follows:

Two (2) full years of progressively higher-level graduate education, a master's degree or equivalent graduate degree (i.e., LL.B. or JD), AND all of the above education requirements must be supplemented by at least 15 semester hours (or 23 quarter hours) in accounting, AND an additional nine (9) semester hours (14 quarter hours) from among the following or closely related fields: finance, economics, money and banking, tax law, and business law. You may qualify by a combination of experience and education.

Salary and Benefits

This position’s starting salary varies depending upon location. Please see the How to Apply section below to access the official Job Opportunity Announcement and salary information. Employees receive the full package of federal employment benefits that include health and insurance plans, a generous annual and sick leave program, and participation in the Thrift Savings Plan, which is a retirement plan similar to a traditional 401(k).

A monetary recruitment incentive MAY be offered in some locations. Authorization will be considered based on location AND applicant qualifications. 

How to Apply

Click this site’s APPLY link to access the official Criminal Investigator (Special Agent) Job Opportunity Announcement (JOA). You will learn exactly how to submit your application package, including your resume, an online assessment questionnaire, and possibly other documents. You will also learn about duty locations, telework eligibility, U.S. citizenship, maximum entry age, medical, and other requirements that should be reflected in the information you provide in your resume.