Equipment Finance Tax Specialist

The Equipment Finance Tax Specialist is responsible for reviewing complex commercial lease transactions to ensure the proper Sales and Property Tax compliance and mitigate tax and legal risk for the bank. Commercial leasing tax compliance requires being able to work in a multi-jurisdictional environment, provide accounting and tax research and related customer service functions. Please see below for specific responsibilities and requirements for this role.

• Tax Compliance Conduct sales and property tax review/analysis on pending leases and provide accurate tax codes for new lease requests.
• Perform post-booking internal audits of new lease setup on the system of record.
• Review/research regulatory and statutory changes to sales tax and property tax law and their impact on the leasing process.
• Research state regulations related to such tax issues addressed during dispute resolution process.
• Facilitate sales and property refunds with customers. Maintain and continuously improve sales tax resources available for use by the commercial leasing sales force to ensure communication of new and updated tax regulations.
• Provide guidance and expertise to the line of business as appropriate during the lease documentation process.
• Coordinate Sales Tax amendment requests resulting from customer disputes and/or errors with the Corporate Sales Tax team to ensure timely and accurate completion of amended tax returns or appeals.
• Support the Corporate Tax team in responding to Sales tax audit requests from applicable taxing authorities, compiling associated lease information, and researching tax regulations associated with such audits.
• Manage relationship with property tax vendor including reviewing asset data, data exchange between vendor and bank, reviewing returns, managing billing issues and colllections and annual SOX reviews .
• Provide assistance, as needed, in coordinating timely and accurate completion of amended returns or appeals resulting from property tax disputes or double assessment(s).
• Assist Corporate Tax and other Bancorp departments with acquisitions and other "due diligence" requirements, as needed.
• Tax Accounting Assist in continuous improvement initiatives to enhance data accuracy and efficient reporting capabilities.
• Coordinate with the Finance and/or Corporate Tax teams to ensure accurate accounting of sales and property tax activities, and compile data for reconciliation purposes accordingly.
• Facilitate the sales tax reconciliation process related to the syndicated portfolio, and support the accounting function as needed.
• Work closely with the Corporate Tax Lease Administration Specialist to compile sales tax data for periodic filing purposes on serviced syndication accounts to the Corporate Tax department.
• Support on-going projects related to the automation and integration of syndication accounts, as they relate to sales tax and property tax reporting.
• Research and prepare monthly property tax reconciliation, provide journal entries and complete RSR as necessary.
• Research customer disputes as they relate to sales and property tax billings and make recommendations for resolution with the assistance of the management and other available resources.
• Assist with researching and responding to customer account payment application issues.
• Provide support to other members of the commercial staff as needed to promote a superior level of customer service and teamwork.
• Other Duties:
  Performing other duties as assigned, adapting to new tasks or shifts in priorities as necessary to support your team's and the company's mission.

• 7-10 years of accounting and/or compliance tax experience.
• Experience in the leasing industry (or comparable). (Compliance Tax refers to Sales & Use or Property Tax in this context).
• Associate's degree required;
  Bachelor's degree in Business (e.g. Business Administration, Finance, Accounting) a plus.

• Excellent communication skills.
• Strong Customer Service Orientation
• Excellent analytical ability
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Products

• Info Lease or CCH experience is a plus.
• Working toward CMI designation or other related certification in compliance tax field is desirable.

Our employees take pride in doing the right thing for customers and colleagues as well as being accountable for risk by openly exchanging ideas and opinions, elevating concerns, and following policies and procedures that protect all our valuable assets -…