Obtaining a power of attorney through IRS e-services.

• Author: Randall, Vance

E-services is a suite of internet-based products that allows tax professionals to conduct client business with the IRS 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Compared with mailing or faxing a Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, the e-services application is a much faster way for tax professionals to register their authority and represent a taxpayer before the IRS. This registration process is relatively simple and allows tax professionals to not only obtain a power of attorney but also use other applications within e-services.

If the tax professional is a member of a firm, the firm and the tax professional each must obtain a centralized authorization file (CAF) number with the IRS. The simple registration process is outlined below.

Registration Services

To register for e-services, the tax professional should access "e-Services for Tax Pros" under the "Tax Professionals" tab on the IRS website (www.irs.gov). During registration, the IRS requests the following information:

* Legal name;

* Social Security number;

* Date of birth;

* Telephone number;

* E-mail address;

* Adjusted gross income (AGI) from either the current year or a prior year's filed tax return;

* Username selected by the tax professional;

* Password and PIN selected by the tax professional;

* Reminder question to recover a forgotten username; and

* Home mailing address.

The IRS will verify much of this information using its own or Social Security Administration records.

Disclosure Authorization

After registering with e-services, creating the power of attorney is a simple process. Before obtaining an online power of attorney, the tax professional must always obtain written authorization from the taxpayer(s). Form 2848 should be completed with the exact information requested. When completing the online Form 2848, the tax professional represents to the IRS that he or she already has signed authorization to represent the taxpayer(s). Before beginning, the tax professional will also need the taxpayer's date of birth and AGI for the current year or any of the three prior years for which a tax return has been processed, plus the spouse's date of birth if the taxpayer is married and files jointly.

The tax professional should go to the Tax Professionals page on the IRS website and enter his or her unique e-services ID and password. The user should then either create a new form for a business or individual or modify Form 2848 if necessary.

The tax professional needs...