If you don't mind what people say to you and you have a pleasant demeanor, the job of tax collector for the IRS might appeal to you when you look for a job in the accounting industry. Another term for this position is that of revenue officers, as you deal with the collection of delinquent tax accounts. The first step is for the accounting department to send official notification to the taxpayer that proceedings are being started to collect the past due account. The taxpayer has a certain amount of time to respond to the notification and once this time passes, the case is sent to you for the rest of the collection process.
Your job as a tax collector is to make contact with the tax payer, first by a written notification and later by telephone or direct contact, to try to find ways to resolve the problem. There are cases where taxpayers neglect to file income tax returns. In these cases, you could recommend that the IRS prepare the tax return and perform the filing procedure. You are also responsible for determining and verifying the reasons why the taxes remain unpaid. This involves researching court documents, such as divorce proceedings and liens of assets, requesting financial statements from banks or locating assets existing in third party names. Following this research, you can make a recommendation on a course of action the IRS can take to recoup the unpaid taxes. You also have the authority to garnish wages to help pay this owed money.
Most of the work you do as a tax collector will involve the use of the computer. Therefore, you should be proficient in using computer programs and have an excellent ability to do research both online and off. You do have to maintain records of contacts and dealing with the taxpayers, records of notices sent and the actions taken by you or recommended to the IRS. Although you usually work on your own in this job, there are also times when you have to consult with other agents when you suspect fraud or when the court has to become involved in administering any liens on property where there are complex legal matters involved.
For the most part, you will work in an office as a tax collector. There may be times when you will be required to travel. When you are working on a case involving the delinquent account of a business, you may have to spend a lot of time in the main office of that business reviewing and inspecting the financial records. You may have to spend time in the courthouse researching documents or even at the homes of individual taxpayers.
The education and training you need to become a tax collector involves a Bachelor’s degree in finance, business or accounting. You will also need to have training or course work in the field of criminal justice. You will receive training for the job when you first get hired under the guidance of an experienced collector for the first year, After you start to take cases of your own and gain more experience, you might want to take more advanced technical training that will allow you to take on more challenging cases.
