IRS Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins warned in a recent blog post that the IRS is having difficulty processing Forms 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, and 8821, Tax Information Authorization (collectively “authorizations,” for practitioners), and so tax professionals should expect delays. While she noted that IRS performance has improved overall, it is not nearly enough to meet taxpayer needs. 

"If practitioners have no gauge from which to form a reasonable expectation of how long the IRS CAF [Central Authorization File] units need to process an authorization, they reasonably might submit a duplicate, unknowingly worsening the backlog of unprocessed forms<" Collins wrote. "Practitioners might call the IRS to inquire about the status, unnecessarily exacerbating historically high volume of calls resulting in low levels of IRS phone service. They might call TAS [the Taxpayer Advocate Service] for assistance, adding to our ongoing backlogs in TAS case processing. The CAF units received over 859,000 more authorizations during fiscal year (FY) 2021 than FY 2020, but the CAF units have no mechanism for tracking how many submissions are duplicates. The units processed 4.19 million forms in FY 2021, an increase of 1.16 million (38 percent) over the prior FY."

The IRS, in response to these delays, has expanded the means by which people can submit information, although Collins warned that each method requires different types of signatures. Forms submitted by fax or mail must have ink signatures; Forms submitted through the online portal must be signed by all parties electronically or with an ink signature; and authorization requests submitted through the Tax Pro Account are paperless; representatives authenticate their identity and initiate an authorization request through their Tax Pro Account to the client and receive confirmation of successful submission. Clients must then approve or reject the requests through their personal online accounts.

In the meanwhile, Collins said that practitioners should stop submitting duplicates to the CAF units. If practitioners must submit a duplicate or are worried that an initial request is lost, they should submit the duplicate through their Tax Pro Accounts. Collins also said that practitioners should not call the IRS to inquire about the status of an authorization. If they need to speak with someone at the IRS about a client’s tax matter(s), they can fax a copy of the authorization form while on the phone with the IRS employee to discuss details of their client’s account. The authorization may not be processed to the CAF, but it will allow them to speak with an IRS employee on behalf of their client. She also said that professionals should help their clients set up an IRS online account and show them how to log in to approve authorization in the Tax Pro Account. .