What does a Tax Accountant do?

A Tax Accountant prepares and files tax returns, calculates estimated payments, ensures compliance with tax laws across jurisdictions, and plans ahead to minimize tax legally. They also prepare tax provisions for financial statements and handle correspondence with tax authorities.

What is the difference between a Tax Accountant and a general Accountant?

A general accountant focuses on recording transactions and producing financial statements. A Tax Accountant specializes in tax law, returns, provisions, and planning. Small companies often combine both duties in one role, while larger companies separate tax into its own function.

Does a Tax Accountant need to be a CPA?

Not necessarily. Preparing corporate returns and provisions does not require a license, though a CPA or Enrolled Agent credential signals depth and is required to represent you before the IRS. Require licensure for senior or sign-off roles and treat it as a plus elsewhere.

What skills should I look for when hiring a Tax Accountant?

Look for accuracy, current knowledge of the tax types and jurisdictions that affect you, research skills, and calendar discipline, since filing deadlines do not move. A short technical scenario in the interview, such as a nexus or deduction question, quickly separates depth from surface familiarity.

Tax Accountant Job Description

Companies open this position when the filing calendar stops fitting inside somebody else's job. Deadlines are immovable, penalties are automatic, and the work needs a person who tracks legislation rather than looking it up in a panic. Hiring well here is partly a question of specialism, since a generalist accountant and a genuine tax specialist are different candidates who rarely answer the same posting.

The draft below covers the recurring cycle of the job, which you can then narrow to your own filings. Two decisions come first. Is this a corporate tax seat or a client portfolio inside a practice, and which taxes and jurisdictions does the work genuinely cover? Then settle whether CPA licensure is required or merely preferred, since that single line changes your applicant pool substantially.

Be honest about busy season hours in the summary rather than burying them, since candidates leaving public accounting are usually asking exactly that question. Add the final copy to your careers page and the accounting boards you use. The generator below can produce a version for a firm, a corporate tax team, or a single-jurisdiction role.

Written by Jasmin Erge, HR Content Specialist at Hirex. Reviewed by the Hirex Recruitment Team.
Last updated August 20, 2026.

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About the Tax Accountant role

A Tax Accountant prepares tax returns, ensures compliance with federal, state, and local regulations, and plans ahead so the company or its clients pay no more tax than the law requires. They calculate estimated payments, prepare tax provisions for financial statements, respond to notices from tax authorities, and keep documentation ready for examinations. In many companies they are also the first line of defense when an audit letter arrives.

The role rewards precision and continuous learning, since tax law changes every year. A strong tax accountant tracks legislative updates, researches technical questions with primary sources, meets immovable filing deadlines, and explains complex positions in plain language. In a corporate setting they work closely with the accounting team on provisions and transfer pricing. In a firm they manage a portfolio of client engagements through busy season.

In your posting, specify whether the role is corporate in-house or client-facing in a firm, which tax types it covers, such as income, sales and use, or international, and which jurisdictions apply. Also state whether CPA licensure is required or simply preferred, and be honest about busy season hours. A precise scope helps you avoid interviewing generalists when you need a specialist, or the reverse.