Law Clerk (Tax) - Honors Attorney Program (2026)

Overview

Office of Chief Counsel, IRS, seeks enthusiastic individuals to serve taxpayers fairly and with integrity by providing correct and impartial interpretation of the internal revenue laws and the highest quality legal advice and representation for the IRS. To learn more, click the links below: IRS Office of Chief Counsel Careers Site Meet Our People Learn about our Legal Divisions

Major Duties

The IRS Office of Chief Counsel's Honors Program, at the GS-12 grade level, is a highly competitive program available primarily to graduating or recently graduated Tax LL.M. students. The program offers entry level positions that provide the opportunity to acquire significant training and experience in tax law. The positions are open to individuals each year who have superior academic qualifications or relevant experience to the work of the Office of Chief Counsel. Appointments will be made to a Law Clerk at the GS-12 for 14-months. Participants may be converted to an entry level Attorney position after admittance to a State Bar and demonstration of satisfactory employment during the interim period of 14 Months from original appointment. As a Law Clerk/Attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel you will work for one of several major Counsel legal divisions, based on your particular interest, qualifications, and the staffing needs of the Office. Whether you are in a field office or National Office position, you will receive substantial training and responsibility. The following link describes our legal divisions Legal Divisions | IRS Careers. We are recruiting for both our National Office and our Field Office Divisions throughout the country. Current Openings are detailed below: National Office: National Office Divisions located only in Washington, D.C. include Corporate (CORP), Employee Benefits, Exempt Orgs, Employment Taxes (EEE), Energy, Credits, and Excise Tax (ECE), Financial Institutions & Products (FIP), Income Tax & Accounting (ITA), International (INTL), Passthroughs, Trusts, and Estates (PTE), and Procedure & Administration (P&A). We are currently recruiting for our Division Counsel (Litigation & Advisory) in the following cities: Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Birmingham, AL; Boston, MA; Buffalo, NY; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; East Hartford, CT; Farmers Branch (Dallas), TX; Greensboro, NC; Honolulu, HI; Houston, TX; Indianapolis, IN; Jacksonville, FL; Kansas City, MO; Lake Forest (Laguna Niguel), CA; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Miami, FL; Milwaukee, WI; Nashville, TN; Newark, NJ; New Orleans, LA; New York (Manhattan), NY; Oklahoma City, OK; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Pittsburgh, PA; Plantation, FL; Portland, OR; Richmond, VA; Sacramento, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; Seattle, WA; St. Louis, MO; St. Paul, MN; St. Petersburg, FL; Washington, DC; Westbury (Long Island), NY. We are currently recruiting for our Office of the Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (Criminal Tax) in the following cities: Baltimore, MD; Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Houston, TX; Indianapolis, IN; Jacksonville, FL; Los Angeles, CA; Nashville, TN; Newark, NJ; New Orleans, LA; Portland, OR; Richmond, VA; Salt Lake City, UT; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; St, Louis, MO; St. Paul, MN; Washington, DC; Westbury (Long Island), NY. We are currently recruiting for our Office of the Division Counsel (Tax Exempt & Government Entities Division Counsel) in the following cities: Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Farmers Branch (Dallas), TX; Jacksonville, FL; Los Angeles, CA; New York (Manhattan), NY; Seattle, WA; Washington, DC; Westbury (Long Island), NY. Target Start Date: August - September 2026

Qualifications

This is an open continuous announcement set to close April 22, 2026. Qualification requirements must be met for those applications submitted by the applicable cut-off date listed below. Referral Group 1: Qualified applications received from the opening of the announcement to 11:59 PM EST 02/23/2026. Referral Group 2: Qualified applications received from 12:00 AM EST 02/24/2026 to 11:59 PM EST 04/22/2026. Notifications will be sent to applicants as their application is referred or not referred for further consideration. The announcement may close prior to April 22, 2026, if management has succeeded in filling all vacancies. Who May Apply: Law School Students and Recent Law School Graduates who are eligible for participation in the IRS Chief Counsel Honors Program: Students pursuing a Tax LL.M. who will graduate from an ABA accredited law school by the Graduation Requirement Date: September 30, 2026 OR Recent Tax LL.M. Graduates from an ABA accredited law school, who, within 9 months of graduating law school, began participating in eligibility preserving activities. Eligibility Preserving Activities are defined as: Full-time activities starting after law school graduation that can preserve a law school graduate's eligibility for the Honors Program. The following are eligibility preserving activities: judicial clerkships, tax or accounting-related graduate programs (including Tax LL.M. programs) or qualifying legal fellowships. Qualifying legal fellowships must have a formal sponsor (e.g., a public service organization, a foundation, a bar association, a corporation, a law school, etc.), an established legal mission (e.g., purpose, type of work), and be publicly advertised as a fellowship at the time the candidate applied to the fellowship. Breaks between consecutive eligibility preserving activities cannot exceed 120 days. Participation in the eligibility preserving activity must be active through at least December 1 of the program year (may run later). Law school graduates who received their J.D. prior to October 1, 2022 are ineligible. To qualify for this position of Honors Program Law Clerk, you must meet the qualification requirements listed below by the closing of this announcement: Basic Requirements for Honors Program Law Clerk: Must attend a law school accredited by the American Bar Association. To qualify for the Law Clerk at the GS-12 grade level, you must be a LL.M. candidate/graduate AND meet one of the following by the closing date of the announcement: A class ranking in the top 25% of J.D. program AND/OR a J.D. cumulative GPA of 3.35 or higher. A class ranking in the top 25% of your class in the LL.M. program AND/OR a LL.M. cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher. If neither J.D. nor LL.M. program has class rank or GPA, a minimum LSAT of 160 is required. *Students pursuing a Tax LL.M. who will not graduate from an ABA accredited law school prior to September 30, 2026, may apply to the GS-11 Law Clerk announcement, CCCM-26-12870084-HON-SR. Attributes of an Ideal Candidate are as follows: Special high-level recognition for academic excellence in law school, such as selection to Order of the Coif or receipt of the American Jurisprudence Award in related courses; or top grades in tax or related course work (e.g., "A" grades in tax courses); Evidence of background or experience in the position to be filled, such as taking relevant law school classes (e.g., tax law, bankruptcy/debtor creditor law, administrative law) or relevant legal or tax experience (e.g., tax legal experience) or relevant tax volunteer experience (e.g., VITA, Tax Clinic); Work or achievement in the law school's law review or other recognized law journal; Winning a moot court or mock trial competition or membership on a moot court or mock trial team. We may select from this announcement or any other source to fill one or more vacancies.

Education

All applicants must be attending or graduated from an ABA-accredited law school. A college or university degree generally must be from an accredited (or pre-accredited) college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools which meet these criteria, please refer to Department of Education Accreditation page. FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. If you are qualifying based on foreign education, you must submit proof of creditability of education as evaluated by a credentialing agency. For further information, visit: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications | International Affairs Office (ed.gov).