Tax Pro Account: how online POA and TIA requests work, and when you still need a paper form

What Tax Pro Account does

IRM 21.2.1.63 describes Tax Pro Account as “an online system that allows individual and business tax professionals to securely take various actions.” For individual clients it replaces a paper Form 2848 or Form 8821 with an electronic request that the client signs inside their own IRS online account. The IRS page summarizes the core functions as POA and TIA requests to individuals, withdrawal of POA or TIA, payments, payment plans for individuals and CAF number requests for individuals, plus one-stop views of taxpayer information and active authorizations.

The Form 2848 instructions now open with a tip pointing practitioners to it: “Most requests record immediately to the Centralized Authorization File (CAF).” By comparison, forms submitted by fax, mail or upload are processed manually in the order received (see CAF number and why the CAF unit rejects forms).

Who can use it

The IRS page draws the line by authorization type. “Anyone can request TIA and view taxpayer information with Tax Pro Account.” For a POA, “you must have authority to practice before the IRS as an attorney, certified public accountant, enrolled agent, enrolled actuary or enrolled retirement plan agent.” IRM 21.2.1.63 adds that the professional “must be in good standing, and must not be suspended or disbarred from practice.” Unenrolled preparers, family members, officers and employees cannot use the POA path; they need a paper Form 2848 if they qualify at all.

Sign-in runs through the IRS's Secure Access Digital Identity (SADI) platform, which replaced the retired Secure Access eAuthentication system. IRM 21.2.1.58 records that “Secure Access eAuthentication transitioned to Secure Access Digital Identity (SADI)” and that SADI uses third-party “Credential Service Providers (CSPs)” to verify identity and manage credentials. IRM 21.2.1.63 still describes the requirement in the old vocabulary, saying the professional must “verify their identity and pass a rigorous authentication process using Secure Access.” Which provider you will meet is not stated on the Tax Pro Account page itself, which offers only a “Sign in or create account” button. The IRS account-creation help page is more specific: “You’ll need an account with ID.me to sign in to access your tax information and use services on IRS.gov,” and it lists Tax Pro Account among the accounts that one ID.me login covers. That page does not mention Login.gov for Tax Pro Account; the only reference to Login.gov in the IRS sources for this page is IRM 21.2.1.58's note that the register-help FAQ “includes information for both ID.me and Login.gov.” Plan on ID.me. See e-Services and secure access for what identity verification requires.

The client must be an individual. The IRS page says requests go to individuals who have an address in a U.S. state or the District of Columbia (the IRM also allows APO and FPO addresses) and who can access an IRS online account. A client can create the online account before or after you submit the request.

What you need before you start

IRM 21.2.1.63 lists the inputs:

1. Your CAF number. If you do not have one, Tax Pro Account can assign an individual number in real time.
2. Your name and address exactly as they appear on the CAF. If you have not linked your CAF number, the IRS page says the address you enter “must match what’s on the CAF file at the IRS.”
3. The client's TIN (SSN or ITIN).
4. The client's name and address exactly as on IRS records. The IRS page suggests having the client check their online account or a recent IRS notice; if the address has changed, the client must notify the IRS first.
5. The tax matters and years. Tax Pro Account supports Form 1040 income tax, split spousal assessment or Form 8857 innocent spouse relief, the shared responsibility payment and its split spousal version, and civil penalty limited to March, June, September and December periods.

The year range is narrower than the form. The operative statement is the IRS page, updated October 2026: you can request periods “from the last 20 years through the current year, plus 3 future years” for calendar year filers. For a request made in 2026 that means 2006 through 2029. Anything older goes on Form 2848 or 8821.¹

One request covers one taxpayer. Every input the IRM lists is singular: “The taxpayer’s Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)” and the taxpayer's name and address, and the finished request “will be sent to the taxpayer’s Individual Online Account” “for their approval or rejection.” Spouses who filed jointly are two taxpayers with two online accounts, so a joint 1040 matter takes two requests, each approved by the spouse it names. That mirrors the paper rule in the Form 2848 instructions, which say spouses who filed a joint return “must execute their own separate power of attorney on Form 2848,” and the upload rule on the online submission page: “Submit one form at a time, even for married filing jointly taxpayers. Each form is linked to the taxpayer identification number you enter.” Neither the IRS page nor IRM 21.2.1.63 addresses joint filers by name; the two-request result follows from the one-TIN design.

¹ IRM 21.2.1.63(6) (rev. 02-09-2026) still states that authorizations “may be requested from tax year 2004 through the current year, plus three additional years” and that 2003 and prior require a paper form. The two statements agree for requests made through 2024 and diverge after that; this page follows the IRS page's rolling window because it is the later and public statement. If the application rejects a year inside the 20-year window, use the paper form.

Step by step

The IRM describes four steps. In Step 1 you enter your own information, which is validated against IRS records; you cannot continue until it passes. If your CAF number was assigned in Tax Pro Account or linked, Step 2 fills in automatically. In Step 2 you enter the client's information. In Step 3 you enter tax matters and periods and choose whether to receive copies of notices; as on paper, only two representatives or designees per authorization type can receive notices. In Step 4 you review, check the boxes for the Declaration of Representative, enter your credentials and sign electronically.

You can save a partly completed request as a draft, but only after Step 1 and the client's name in Step 2 are correctly entered.

Client approval and request statuses

After you submit, ask the client to sign in to their online account and open Authorizations. If the client opted into email notifications, they will also get an email. Per IRM 21.2.1.63, requests show as:

Requests that are not approved and processed are removed after 120 calendar days. If the client rejects the request or it fails to write to the CAF, it disappears from your list and you will not see a status; the IRS page says to contact the taxpayer for status in that situation.

Two timing rules come from the same-day limit. A taxpayer can sign only one POA and one TIA per person, per tax form and period, per day. The IRM gives the example of a CPA who sends a request for one range of years, has it approved, then realizes the range was wrong; the corrected request for overlapping years cannot process until the next day. And if several representatives need authority for the same matters, each must submit a separate request and the client must sign all of them on the same day.

What it cannot do

IRM 21.2.1.63 lists the Form 2848 and 8821 features Tax Pro Account does not support:

“Any options not available on Tax Pro Account will require the filing of a paper Form 2848 or Form 8821.” If you need authority to sign a return under Treas. Reg. 1.6012-1(a)(5), to delegate to a colleague, or to authorize disclosure to an interpreter or another third party, use the form. Business matters (Forms 941, 1120, 1065 and so on) also require the form.

Decedents are the other gap. Tax Pro Account has no fiduciary path: IRM 21.2.1.63 routes the request to the taxpayer's own Individual Online Account “for their approval or rejection,” and neither the IRM nor the IRS page lets an executor, administrator or other fiduciary approve in the taxpayer's place. A deceased client's final 1040 or estate matter therefore goes on paper. The Form 2848 instructions say that for a deceased individual's Form 1040 you “enter the name and SSN (or ITIN) of the decedent and the name, title, and address of the decedent’s executor or personal representative,” and that because the fiduciary stands in the taxpayer's position, “the fiduciary must sign the power of attorney on behalf of the person or entity.” File Form 56 with it: 26 CFR 601.503(d) says “In general, when a fiduciary is involved in a tax matter, a power of attorney is not required. Instead form 56, “Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship” should be filed,” and the CAF unit checks that the person signing matches the second name line on the account; if it does not, IRM 21.3.7.5.3 tells the examiner to “reject the authorization and request Durable Power of Attorney, court appointment papers, guardianship papers or Form 56.” See Form 56 and representing a deceased taxpayer.

It replaces prior authorizations

This is the behavior that most often causes trouble. The IRS page warns: “Prior authorizations on file for the same tax matters, tax periods and authorization types will be revoked.” IRM 21.2.1.63 gives an example in which an enrolled agent holds authority for 2003 through 2021, a second professional obtains a Tax Pro Account POA for 2020 through 2027, and the first agent is left with authority only through 2019. Because Tax Pro Account has no retention box, the only way to keep both is a paper form with the line 6 box checked and a copy of the authorization to be retained attached.

Before sending a request, ask whether another professional (a co-counsel, the client's regular preparer, a collection specialist) holds authority for the same years. If so, coordinate and file on paper. The rule cuts by authorization type only: a new POA does not touch an existing TIA, and the Form 2848 instructions confirm that filing Form 2848 will not revoke any Form 8821 in effect.

Viewing and withdrawing authorizations

The request history in Tax Pro Account is a point-in-time record, not proof that authority is still active. IRM 21.2.1.63 says an approved request “will continue to show as Approved, because the taxpayer had approved it,” even if a newer authorization has since overwritten it; the active list is under Taxpayers once you link your CAF number (see linking your CAF number).

Once linked, you can withdraw from any active authorization, including ones originally filed on paper. The IRS page says “Once you withdraw, the authorization is immediately removed from the CAF database.” The client is notified by mail: IRM 21.2.1.63 identifies the notices as CP 312 for individual accounts and CP 313 for business accounts. Note that cancel and withdraw are different. “Cancel is not the same as withdraw”: cancel removes a request the client has not yet signed. For the paper methods and their effects, see revoking and withdrawing.

Other functions for authorized practitioners

With a linked or Tax Pro Account-assigned CAF number, IRM 21.2.1.63 lists these functions:

• Account views. Authorized individual modules, including balances and scheduled, pending, cancelled, returned and processed payments, plus the corresponding business information for entity types covered by Business Tax Account.
• Payments. Up to five same-day payments in one transaction from a checking or savings account, toward a balance due, an amended return, an extension, estimated tax or a proposed assessment.
• Payment plans. Short-term plans to pay within 180 days and installment agreements for individual clients, including pre-assessed agreements, where your authorization covers every module in the balance due. An authorization recorded as “modified” because of line 5a or 5b entries blocks this function (see CAF number).
• Audit status. When an individual client's audit started, what was requested, when responses and letters were recorded, and closed status.
• Lien payoff. The payoff amount in total, by form and by period, and an official federal tax lien payoff letter.
• Secure Messaging and chat. Messages for clients invited to work specific exam, Appeals and AUR issues, and an ACS chatbot that can escalate to a live assistor for accounts in certain balance due and installment agreement statuses.

The system is available “Monday 6:00 a.m. to Saturday 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to midnight Eastern Time.” It is not an e-Services product, and IRM 21.2.1.63 says the e-Services help desk does not support it.

Tax Pro Account versus uploading forms

For the uploaded-form route, the IRS page requires one form per upload, even for married filing jointly taxpayers, in PDF, JPG or GIF format up to the stated file size limit, and warns: “If you already faxed or mailed a form, don’t submit it online.”

Questions practitioners ask