What is a POA and when is it necessary?
• A POA is a legal instrument authorizing an individual to act as a representative for either an individual or entity. Subject to the authority granted, a representative can generally perform any acts the individual or entity can perform. • To protect taxpayer privacy, some form of authorization is necessary for disclosure purposes before an IRS employee can provide information to any third party (certified public accountant, attorney, enrolled agent, family, friend or employee). • IRS cannot disclose details of a tax return unless the practitioner has a valid POA or has filed a Form 8821 which specifically authorizes such disclosure. How do I notify the IRS about a POA? • In most cases, the representative will provide the service with Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative. IRS will record the information in the Centralized Authorization File (CAF). • Form 2848 is not necessary when an individual only needs to receive tax information. For that purpose, a Form 8
