State of Maryland

A Managing Tax Attorney is the supervisory level of professional legal work involving specialized responsibilities in the enforcement, analysis, and application of state and federal tax laws for the Comptroller of Maryland. Employees in this classification are assigned more complex cases and supervise lower-level Tax Attorneys and support staff.

Employees in this classification receive general supervision from a Program Manager or Assistant State Comptroller.

Positions in this classification are evaluated by using the classification job evaluation methodology. The use of this method involves comparing the assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work sections of the class specification.

The Managing Tax Attorney is differentiated from the Senior Tax Attorney III in that the Managing Tax Attorney has full supervisory responsibility for lower-level Senior Tax Attorneys and support staff.

Assists the agency’s Assistant Attorney General’s Office in representing a division of the Comptroller’s Office in the lower courts and the Court of Appeals of Maryland;

Supervises Senior Tax Attorneys who prepare opinions, regulations and proposed legislation for the approval of the Attorney General of Maryland;

Supervises Tax Attorneys who conduct informal hearings in contested tax cases;

Confers with accountants and attorneys in resolving cases concerning their clients;

Studies proposed legislation concerning the Maryland Tax Laws and advises as to its effect, legal sufficiency, and operational impacts;

Gives legal opinions and advice to the Division and program heads of the Division;

Summarizes and submits briefs on the facts applicable to a given case;

Performs research on the common law, case law precedents, statutory changes and the legislative history of statutes;

Analyzes complex corporate and pass-through entity structures to determine taxability;

Analyzes facts and applies the law to make nexus determinations;

Prepares responses to requests for information, declaratory rulings, and private letter rulings and supervises Tax Attorneys who do the same;

Advises the Agency on updates to tax forms to comply with annual law changes;

Prepares formal tax guidance for publication to tax attorneys, accountants, other tax practitioners, and the general public;

Makes decisions based on judgment in accordance with policy, procedure, rules, laws, and opinions;

Trains less experienced Tax Attorneys;

Presents tax law and forms updates to Agency staff, tax practitioners, and members of the public in seminars, training sessions, and information sessions;

Represents the Agency at legislative hearings;

Serves as support staff on legislative commissions and/or task forces;

Performs other related duties.

Knowledge of trial court procedure, practices and jurisdiction;

Knowledge of the basic constitutional and administrative laws/principles applicable to the rules and procedures of administrative agencies;

Knowledge of the rules and procedures of the Maryland Tax Court, the Circuit Court and the Courts of Appeals of Maryland;

Knowledge of Maryland Tax Laws, of the rules and regulations of the Comptroller’s Office pertaining to revenue collections;

Knowledge of the United States Internal Revenue Code and its applicability to Maryland Tax Laws;

Knowledge of Maryland Business Regulation Article and regulations of the Comptroller’s Office related to the monitoring and enforcement of business licenses;

Knowledge of Maryland Commercial Law Article and regulations of the Comptroller’s Office related to the administration of unclaimed property;

Knowledge of inter-agency agreements applicable to refund offsets and information sharing;

Knowledge of and adherence to federal laws regarding safeguarding federal tax information;

Ability to perform legal research;

Ability to prepare briefs, pleadings, petitions, motions and other legal documents;

Ability to organize, prepare and effectively present evidence, witnesses and other information;

Ability to analyze and evaluate statutes and related cases for their applicability to a given set of facts;

Ability to evaluate evidence and judicial opinions and to determine their relevance;

Ability to draft agency regulations;

Ability to summarize proposed State and federal legislation and analyze the impacts of law changes.

Education: Possession of a Juris Doctor or equivalent degree from an accredited school of law.

Experience: Three (3) years of experience leading, supervising, or managing attorneys or paralegals.

Note: 1. Applicants may substitute graduate education in an academic field related to the required experience from an accredited college or university at the rate of one year of education for the required experience.

2. Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a commissioned officer in judge advocate classification or judge advocate specialty codes in the tax law specialist field of work on a year-for-year basis for the required experience and education.

1. Admission to the Bar of a US State or Territory or the District of Columbia.

2. Certificate of Good Standing from the Maryland Court of Appeals.

3. Employees appointed to positions in this classification may be assigned duties which require the operation of a motor vehicle. Employees assigned such duties will be required to possess a motor vehicle operator’s license valid in the State of Maryland.

Class specifications are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies. Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

This is a Professional Service classification in the State Personnel Management System. All positions in this classification are Professional Service positions. Some positions in Professional Service classifications may be designated Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is not assigned to a bargaining unit, as indicated by the designation of S (Supervisor), M (Manager), T (Agency Head), U (Board or Commission Member), W (Student), X (Used by Agency or Excluded by Executive Order), or Z (Confidential). As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded from collective bargaining. Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.