IRS launches ‘Tax Pro Account’ feature

The IRS has unveiled its online "Tax Pro Account" portal (available at www.irs.gov) to allow tax professionals to interact digitally with the Service in a range of ways. Initially, the accounts allow electronic submission of (1) powers of attorney (POAs) to authorize tax practitioners to represent individual taxpayers and (2) tax information authorizations (TIAs) to view those taxpayers' accounts.

Tax Pro Account, which is separate from e-Services, is intended to speed the time for obtaining authorizations to represent taxpayers. The digital submissions go directly to the Centralized Authorization File (CAF) database and do not require manual processing by IRS personnel, the Service said. The digital POAs and TIAs are simpler versions of Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, and Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization.

Tax Pro Account does not replace other options for obtaining third-partyauthorizations: POAs and TIAs will still be accepted by fax, mail, or the "Submit Forms 2848 and 8821 Online" portal — although all of these require manual processing.

Initially, Tax Pro Account is used to obtain POAs and TIAs only from individual taxpayers, not businesses or other entities. Some tips on using the new automated system include: