Tax Associate

Location: Hybrid / Flexible (Support for Late Shift Hours Required)

We are seeking a highly experienced Tax Withholding Associate to join our Enterprise Customer Tax Utility. This role is critical in managing complex tax withholding operations, ensuring total compliance with IRS regulations, and maintaining the integrity of tax reporting activities. As a Subject Matter Expert (SME), you will provide technical leadership, perform high-level reviews, and drive process improvements across the tax lifecycle.

1. Withholding Operations & Compliance

• Validation: Authenticate customer tax status, withholding codes, and treaty benefits to ensure accurate tax application.

• Level-2 Review: Conduct rigorous secondary reviews of daily withholding files to guarantee compliance and precision.

• Refund Assessment: Determine refund eligibility based on IRS rules, documentation, and specific tax treaty provisions.

• IRS Remittance: Manage the secure deposit of funds with the IRS, ensuring all remittances are error-free and meet strict regulatory deadlines.

2. Financial Control & Reconciliation

• Account Oversight: Maintain and review Advance Deposit and Demand Deposit Accounts (DDA).

• Discrepancy Resolution: Perform monthly DDA reconciliations, identify variances, and resolve exceptions or questionable data through transaction tracing.

• Data Integrity: Validate withholding code corrections and perform comprehensive customer account maintenance and tax data reviews.

3. Analytics & Performance Reporting

• KPI Management: Track and publish daily Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and production dashboards.

• Data-Driven Insights: Generate operational metrics and trend analyses to provide recommendations for reducing exceptions and improving efficiency.

• Visualization: Utilize tools like Power BI or Alteryx (where applicable) to enhance management reporting and variance insights.

4. Leadership & Subject Matter Expertise

• Mentorship: Act as the SME for withholding operations, leading and mentoring junior staff and guiding daily workflows.

• Stakeholder Engagement: Serve as a primary point of contact for internal stakeholders and lead team discussions in the absence of management.

• Project Support: Contribute to complex ad-hoc projects aimed at process automation and control enhancements.

Education & Tax Knowledge

• Degree: Bachelor’s degree or MBA in Finance, Accounting, or a related field.

• Regulatory Expertise: Deep understanding of W-8/W-9 forms, FATCA, CRS, IGAs, and Tax Treaties.

• Risk Awareness: Strong knowledge of IRS penalty regimes, compliance expectations, and internal risk controls.

Technical Skills

• Advanced Excel: Mastery of Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP, IF statements, macros, and formula tracing.

• Data Tools: Working knowledge of Microsoft Access (queries/extraction); experience with Power BI or Alteryx is a significant advantage.

• General Proficiency: Full command of the Microsoft Office Suite.

Analytical & Soft Skills

• Detail Oriented: Exceptional math and accounting skills with the ability to work accurately under high-pressure deadlines.

• Leadership: Proven ability to lead small teams and communicate effectively across all organizational levels.

• Flexibility: Willingness to work late shift hours to align with critical tax remittance cycles.

This is a high-impact position within a sophisticated tax utility. You will move beyond basic data entry into a leadership-track role where your technical expertise directly protects the firm from regulatory risk and financial penalties.