A tax clerk is a person who works in a tax collector’s office and is in charge of a variety of tax functions, such as sending out tax bills and collecting tax payments for a particular region. The clerk may also be in charge of issuing and maintaining resident licenses and permits. This job is an entry-level position that reports to a tax collector. A tax clerk may work at the local, state, or federal level.
A local tax clerk is an entry-level position in a city or town’s collection department, performing office duties. Answering phones, answering tax questions, filing paperwork, accepting residential and local business tax payments, and documenting those payments are all common duties of the clerk. The clerk may also work with residents to devise a payment plan that will allow them to pay their tax bills a certain date. In the absence of the tax collector, the clerk works under the supervision of the collector and may work alone.
Licenses and permits, such as animal owner licenses, dog licenses, hunting and fishing licenses, and building permits, may be issued the clerk. The tax clerk may be in charge of gathering the necessary information and ensuring that the resident meets the requirements for the permit or license. The clerk will distribute the requested documentation and then record the data if the person is qualified. He or she will keep an eye on these files to ensure that residents are abiding the law.
This is an entry-level office job that typically does not require a high school diploma. Because the individual will receive on-the-job training, a high school diploma is usually the minimum educational requirement. Any additional education in property assessment, accounting, or other tax-related courses will, of course, be beneficial to a tax clerk. Employers may demand that the clerk have basic computer skills, as well as customer service, math, and telephone skills.
A tax clerk may also work for the federal government, assisting a tax collector in collecting taxes owed to national tax collection agencies like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States, the Canada Revenue Agency, or Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the United Kingdom. Whether the clerk works for a small local government or a large national corporation, the job responsibilities are essentially the same.