Form 2848

Form 2848 is the IRS's power of attorney. Titled "Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative", it lets a taxpayer authorize an individual to represent them before the IRS, and the IRS's own instruction is that the person named "must be eligible to practice before the IRS." Part I is the taxpayer's grant: who the representative is, which taxes, which form numbers and which years or periods. Part II is the representative's declaration, in which they state the basis on which they may practice, such as a bar membership, a CPA license or enrollment as an agent.

It is a federal tax document, and that is the distinction most families need. A general or durable power of attorney signed under state law lets an agent handle the principal's affairs broadly, and the IRS will accept one that contains the information its regulation requires. Form 2848, by contrast, is narrow by design: it covers only the matters written on it, and it is the version the IRS records on its Centralized Authorization File so that IRS employees can see the authority when the representative calls.

Who can be named. Part II lists the eligible designations, among them an attorney, a certified public accountant, an enrolled agent, an officer or a full-time employee of a business taxpayer, an enrolled actuary or enrolled retirement plan agent, a qualifying student or law graduate working in a low-income taxpayer clinic or student tax clinic program, and a family member. The form defines that last category as "a member of the taxpayer's immediate family (spouse, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, step-child, brother, or sister)", and the instructions add step-brothers and step-sisters. An unenrolled return preparer can be named only with limited rights: they may represent a client before revenue agents and customer service staff in an examination of a return they prepared, and never before appeals officers, revenue officers or IRS counsel.

What the authority covers. Unless the form says otherwise, the representative may inspect and receive confidential tax information and "perform all acts" the taxpayer could perform for the listed matters, including signing agreements, consents and waivers. Several things are carved out unless added expressly. The representative may never endorse or negotiate a government refund check. They may not substitute or add another representative, sign certain returns, or authorize disclosure of the taxpayer's information to a third party, without specific authority on the form. Signing an income tax return for someone else is allowed only in the circumstances Treasury Regulations section 1.6012-1(a)(5) lists: disease or injury, continuous absence from the United States for at least 60 days before the due date, or specific permission from the IRS for other good cause.

Other powers of attorney. Under 26 CFR 601.503(b), the IRS accepts a power of attorney other than Form 2848 if it contains the items the regulation lists: the taxpayer's name, address and identification number, the representative's name and address, a description of the matters (type of tax, form number and years, plus an employee plan number or a decedent's date of death where they apply), and a clear statement of the authority granted. Durable and limited powers of attorney are accepted on the same terms. To be recorded on the Centralized Authorization File, though, such a document must have a completed Form 2848 attached. And where the state-law document leaves out required details, the regulation lets the agent cure the gap by executing a Form 2848 on the taxpayer's behalf, with a statement signed under penalty of perjury that the original power of attorney is valid under the law of the governing jurisdiction, provided the original reaches federal tax matters.

Three neighboring forms. Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization, is for someone who should see tax records, such as a bookkeeper or a lender, without representing the taxpayer. Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship, is for a trustee, executor, administrator, receiver or guardian, who "stands in the position of a taxpayer and acts as the taxpayer, not as a representative"; a fiduciary who wants a professional to handle a matter then signs a Form 2848 naming that professional. And spouses who filed jointly each sign their own Form 2848, even when they name the same representative.

1. Complete Part I. The taxpayer enters their own information, names the representatives on line 2 (no more than two may be designated to receive copies of IRS notices for the same matter), and on line 3 lists each matter by description, tax form number and year or period. A specific-use matter the IRS does not record on its authorization file, such as an application for an employer identification number, is flagged with the box on line 4.
2. Sign, then have the representative sign. The taxpayer generally signs first, and the instructions require the representative to sign within 45 days of that date (60 days for authorizations from taxpayers outside the United States).
3. Submit it. The form can be uploaded online through the IRS's submission page, faxed, or mailed to the address in the instructions' chart; a practitioner can also use the IRS Tax Pro Account. A form with an electronic signature must be submitted online, and a specific-use form flagged on line 4 goes by mail or fax to the IRS office handling that matter.
4. The IRS records it. Most authorizations are recorded on the Centralized Authorization File. Recording a new Form 2848 for a matter generally revokes an earlier one for the same matter unless the taxpayer checks line 6 and attaches the earlier one to keep it in force. A Form 2848 never revokes a Form 8821.
5. Revoke it when it should end. The taxpayer writes "REVOKE" across the top of the first page with a current signature and date and sends the copy to the IRS, or sends a signed statement listing the matters, years and representatives if no copy survives.

Consider an example of how far ahead an authorization reaches. Gregor signs a Form 2848 in March 2026 naming his enrolled agent for income tax, Form 1040, for every year from 2022 through 2030. Past and current years can be listed freely, and future years can be listed too, but the IRS will not record a future period that runs more than 3 years past December 31 of the year it receives the form. Received in 2026, the cutoff is December 31, 2026 plus 3 years, which is December 31, 2029. So 2022 through 2029 are recorded, and 2030 is not; Gregor's agent will need a new form for 2030 when the time comes.

Pros

• Lets a professional or a family member deal with the IRS directly, which is often the fastest way to resolve a notice, an audit or a payment plan.
• Recorded on the IRS's authorization file, so the authority is visible to the IRS employee on the phone instead of having to be proved each time.
• Scoped to named taxes and years, so the grant is no wider than the problem.
• Repairs a state-law power of attorney that omits required details, through the agent-executed Form 2848 the regulation allows.

Cons

• Only people eligible to practice can be named; a trusted friend who is not a family member or a credentialed professional cannot represent you on it.
• It does not let the representative cash a refund check or, outside narrow cases, sign your return.
• A new form for the same matter can silently revoke an earlier one unless line 6 is used, which can surprise a taxpayer with two representatives.
• It is the wrong document for an executor or trustee, who use Form 56, and signing the wrong one delays the matter it was meant to speed up.