What is a senior tax analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted Expert

Dr. Francis Cai Ph.D.

A senior tax analyst specializes in analyzing and interpreting tax laws and regulations. They work for companies or individuals to ensure compliance and minimize tax liabilities. Senior tax analysts research and identify tax issues, prepare tax returns, and provide guidance on tax strategies. They also keep up-to-date with changes in the field, and advise their clients on these changes. Additionally, senior tax analysts may review the work of junior staff and provide training and mentorship.

What general advice would you give to a Senior Tax Analyst?

Dr. Francis Cai Ph.D.

Professor, William Paterson University of New Jersey

I would advise students to learn and gain experience in as much as possible. It's not uncommon for people to switch jobs and responsibilities throughout their careers, and you never know what knowledge you learn can be applied later in life. It's almost impossible for the school to prepare you fully for the real world, so don't be afraid to ask questions. The whole world is different from your college life. Be willing to adjust to the new environment.

ScoreSenior Tax AnalystUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,029

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.4

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.46%

Asian 15.51%

Black or African American 8.48%

Hispanic or Latino 10.81%

Unknown 3.95%

White 60.78%

Gender

female 51.67%

male 48.33%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.3

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.7

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Senior Tax Analyst?

Pros

High salary potential
Opportunities for career advancement
Ability to work independently and take ownership of projects
Strong demand for tax professionals
Possibility to work remotely or have flexible schedules

Cons

Monotonous work during non-tax season months
Potential for burnout due to heavy workload and tight deadlines
Often requires sitting at a desk for extended periods of time
Exposure to legal risks if mistakes are made on tax filings
Heavy reliance on computer systems, which can lead to data breaches or technical difficulties.

Key steps to become a senior tax analyst

Explore senior tax analyst education requirements

Most common senior tax analyst degrees

Bachelor's

67.3 %

Master's

23.0 %

Associate

5.5 %

Start to develop specific senior tax analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
ASC	5.74%
State Income	5.44%
OneSource	5.24%
Tax Compliance	5.04%
Tax Research	4.26%

Complete relevant senior tax analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior tax analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior tax analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior tax analyst resumes.

Research senior tax analyst duties and responsibilities

Manage the production of retirement benefit checks, and ACH invoices.
Review various tax liability and reserve account reconciliations to ensure proper accounting treatment of tax collections and remittances.
Prepare sales/use tax reclassification journal entries for monthly closing and perform quarterly and annual sales/use tax accounts reconciliation for SOX control.
Used OneSource s/w for filing the tax returns.

Get senior tax analyst experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior tax analyst. The most common roles before becoming a senior tax analyst include tax accountant, tax analyst team lead and senior tax accountant.

Prepare your senior tax analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior tax analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior tax analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Tax Analyst Resume templates

Build a professional Senior Tax Analyst resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Senior Tax Analyst resume.

Apply for senior tax analyst jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior tax analyst job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do senior tax analysts rate their job?

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Senior Tax Analyst reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Pros

Getting a whole picture look instead of a just a snippet of what my current task is

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019