August 14, 2023 –

Do you have a Tax Pro Account? If not, you should. With the recent improvements and additional functionality coming in the next year, the Tax Pro Account will finally start to provide tax professionals with online tools to assist their clients more efficiently. The recent improvements include the ability to link a Centralized Authorization File (CAF) number to their Tax Pro Account, view a list of their active authorizations with authorization details, and manage authorizations. This is only the beginning and I eagerly await more functionality going forward.

The IRS rolled out Tax Pro Account in 2021, but it provided minimal functionality and was severely limited in scope – essentially only allowing electronic filing of Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, or Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization, and transcript retrieval through the Transcript Delivery System.

In my 2022 Annual Report to Congress, I identified online access for taxpayers and tax professionals as one of the ten Most Serious Problems facing taxpayers. Tax professionals play a key role in tax administration, preparing more than half of all filed returns in 2021 and 2022, and representing taxpayers in over 57,000 of the audits closed in Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, all while lacking the ability to access their clients’ data within Tax Pro Account. Providing tax professionals with convenient access to their clients’ data and allowing them to electronically communicate with the IRS and take actions authorized by the taxpayer is invaluable in helping tax professionals better assist taxpayers. When tax professionals lack digital service and upload options, they must resort to paper, mail, or phone calls to the Practitioner Priority Line, which had average wait times of 16 minutes in FY 2023 and 24 minutes in FY 2022. Providing tax professionals with comprehensive, self-service tools results in earlier case resolutions, lower resolution costs, and reduced wait times on IRS phone lines.

New Features

After recent improvements, tax professionals can:

• Link a CAF number: Using a requested personal identification number, verify the CAF holder’s identity to link the CAF number and Tax Pro Account.
• Update the name of the person to whom a CAF number is assigned.
• Update the address of record associated with a CAF number.
• View active authorizations associated with a CAF number.
• View authorization list and details: View authorization details such as authorization type, tax matters, periods, etc.
• Manage authorizations: Withdraw authorizations and provide notice to taxpayers.

Opening an Account

If you don’t have a Tax Pro account yet, it’s easy to sign up for one. Visit the Tax Pro Account page and click the “Log in to Tax Pro Account” button. You can then create an account or sign into an existing account.

Future Improvements

The IRS plans to continue improving Tax Pro Account. As the IRS implements its Strategic Operating Plan, there are several initiatives to create a comprehensive, user-friendly Tax Pro Account, including:

• Objective 1.4, Improve Self-Service Options: The IRS plans to allow properly authorized tax professionals to view clients’ balances, payment histories, and notices, as well as act on their clients’ behalf to make payments, set up payment plans, and complete other account updates.
• Objective 1.10, Make Payments Easy: The IRS intends to allow properly authorized tax professionals to make, manage, and view their clients’ payments.
• Objective 1.11, Build Status-Tracking Tools for Taxpayers: The IRS intends to allow properly authorized tax professionals to track the real-time processing status of their clients’ returns, refunds, and other IRS processes and decisions.
• Objective 2.3, Develop Taxpayer-Centric Notices: The IRS plans to allow properly authorized tax professionals to electronically view and respond to their clients’ notices.

Conclusion

Since joining as the National Taxpayer Advocate in 2020, I have advocated for online account functionality on behalf of taxpayers and tax professionals, and I am overjoyed to see the IRS moving in this direction. These new Tax Pro Account features are a step in the right direction, but the work is not done. I am anxious for the IRS’s future development and release of additional Tax Pro Account functionality and will continue to advocate for a comprehensive, robust Tax Pro Account that allows tax professionals to efficiently assist their clients.

The post NTA Blog: Attention Tax Professionals: Check Your Tax Pro Account appeared first on Taxpayer Advocate Service.

Source: taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov