What is Power of Attorney and why does my tax professional need it?

IRS Power of Attorney (POA) is authorized through Form 2848 and allows your tax professional to act on your behalf before the IRS. Without POA, the IRS cannot discuss your tax account with anyone but you. With POA, your representative can: access your complete tax records and transcripts, call the IRS Practitioner Priority Service (shorter wait times than the public line), negotiate installment agreements, submit Offers in Compromise, respond to IRS notices and letters, represent you at audits without your presence, request penalty abatement, and handle all IRS communications so you don't have to. POA is specific: you designate which tax years and types of tax the representative can handle. You can have multiple representatives with POA, and you can revoke it at any time. When you sign Form 2848, the IRS sends a copy to the representative named on the form, and they can then call the IRS to handle your case. Form 2848 is different from Form 8821 (Tax Information Authorization), which only allows someone to receive your tax information but not represent you or make decisions on your behalf. For full resolution services, your professional needs Form 2848.