Delegating access to your IRS account

If you’re received an IRS letter or notice, you know they aren’t the easiest to read.

If the letter or notice claims you owe additional money, the explanation usually isn’t very clear about why.

Throw in the additional complexity of economic impact payments (EIP), recovery rebate credits, and advance child tax credit payments, and the likelihood of receiving a notice due to a mismatch between your records and IRS’s records has increased substantially.

As a tax advisor, I’m often in a position where I need access to my clients' IRS accounts. This helps me quickly verify information, understand IRS’s point of view, and find an advantageous resolution to the issue at hand.

Fortunately, IRS provides a few mechanisms that allow taxpayers to delegate access to their IRS accounts. These start with, of course, filing one of two forms:

• Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization. This form authorizes any individual or firm to access your IRS records. The authorization is limited to specific forms filed and for a specific tax year or range of years.
• Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative. This form authorizes any qualified individual to access your IRS records and to represent you before the IRS. Like Form 8821, the authorization is limited to specific forms filed and for a specific tax year or range of years. A qualified individual is one that must be licensed to practice before the IRS, which includes attorneys, certified public accountants (CPAs), and enrolled agents (EAs).

Usually your tax advisor will fill out the necessary form with all the relevant information, but you will always need to sign the form before it can be filed and used.

Until the past two years, IRS required a “wet ink” signature on all forms 2848 and 8821; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IRS began accepting electronic signatures on these forms.

And last year, IRS began offering a completely electronic portal that allows tax professionals to request authorization without either form. Taxpayers can approve authorization requests within their IRS online account, giving instant access to their advisors.