Purpose: This section provides instructions and procedural guidance to Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) employees who are working TAS cases, as they work with taxpayer’s representatives. It is also designed to encourage TAS employees to consider the issues from the taxpayer’s perspective and act with empathy as they work to resolve the taxpayer’s case.

Audience: These procedures apply to TAS employees dealing with taxpayers’ representatives.

Policy Owner: The Executive Director Case Advocacy, Intake and Technical Support (EDCA-ITS), who reports to the Deputy National Taxpayer Advocate (DNTA).

Program Owner: The Director, Technical Analysis and Guidance (TAG), who reports to the EDCA-ITS.

The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) provides taxpayers specific rights. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR) groups these rights into ten fundamental rights. See IRC 7803(a)(3). One of those ten rights is the Right to Retain Representation, which articulates the taxpayers’s right to retain an authorized representative of their choice to represent them in their dealings with the IRS. In addition, taxpayers have the right to seek assistance from a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) if they cannot afford representation and meet the eligibility requirements.

Congress has reinforced a taxpayer’s Right to Retain Representation in several IRC provisions, including:

TAS employees must respect, support, and vigorously protect this fundamental taxpayer right. Representation helps both taxpayers and the IRS resolve disputes. In addition, taxpayers’ representatives play an important role in obtaining fair and equal treatment of taxpayers and protecting their rights.

The following list includes various ways in which TAS employees can protect the Right to Retain Representation:

Taxpayers have the right to request assistance from a third party when dealing with tax matters and the IRS. The general rule of disclosure is that returns and return information cannot be disclosed by IRS employees except as authorized by IRC 6103 or by another provision of law. Also see IRM 21.1.3.2, General Disclosure Guidelines for additional information. Taxpayers may, however, authorize the IRS to disclose their returns and return information to a designated person or entity.

TAS employees should have a firm understanding of the rules and regulations governing representation before the IRS. TAS employees should ensure taxpayers know there is a difference between what constitutes practice before the IRS, as authorized by the Form 2848, and the exchange of information as permitted by Form 8821. Circular 230, contains the rules governing practice before the IRS. Similarly, taxpayers should be advised of the limits of oral disclosure consent.

IRC 6103(e)(8) provides for disclosures of return information for individuals who have filed jointly, regardless of whether they are no longer married or no longer reside in the same household. If a representative is not authorized for both spouses, extreme caution must be exercised when disclosing information. Information that shall be disclosed upon receipt of a proper request from a spouse who has been assessed the joint tax may include:

TAS employees must take all necessary safeguards to confirm that any person with whom they are dealing is properly authorized to receive the protected federal tax information. A TAS employee who makes a willful unauthorized disclosure may be subject to criminal penalties under IRC 7213 and IRC 7213A and may also be discharged from employment.

TAS employees who make an inadvertent disclosure of federal tax information to an unauthorized third party must notify their manager of the incident. See IRM 11.3.38.5.1, Reporting Non-willful Inadvertent Disclosures of Sensitive Information, for more information. In addition to the reporting requirement to the employee’s manager, inadvertent unauthorized disclosures of sensitive but unclassified (SBU) data, including personally identifiable information (PII) and federal tax information (FTI), are reported to Privacy, Government Liaison and Disclosure/Incident Management (PGLD/IM) via the PII Breach Reporting Form. See IRM 10.5.4, Incident Management Program and the Data Protection page in the Disclosure and Privacy Knowledge Base Site at Privacy, Governmental Liaison and Disclosure (PGLD) Incident Management Office (IM) Data Breach Process for additional information and reporting procedures.

TAS follows the authentication rules established by the IRS in IRM 21.1.3.3, Third-Party (POA/TIA/F706) Authentication. The process involves asking the third party for personal information while on the phone. The following are some situations that may arise when asking for third-party authentication:

Practice before the IRS encompasses all matters connected with presentation to the IRS or any of its personnel relating to a taxpayer’s rights, privileges, or tax liabilities, including:

Circular 230, 31 C.F.R. Part 10 governs the rules on practicing before the IRS. See also Publication 947, Practice Before the IRS and Power of Attorney; Rev. Proc. 81-38 (Applicable to tax returns prepared on or before December 31, 2015); Rev. Proc. 2014-42; IRM 1.25.1.2, Practice before the IRS Overview.

Practice before the IRS (including TAS) does not include receiving information pursuant to a Form 8821 or providing information to the IRS to assist in processing the return as a Third Party Designee.

A completed Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, is typically required before the individual can practice before the IRS. See IRM 13.1.23.3.1.1 for more information about the authority granted by Form 2848.

A taxpayer can also grant authority for an individual to act on their behalf without Form 2848 by fulfilling the requirements set forth in 26 C.F.R. 601.503(a), as detailed in IRS Publication 216, Conference and Practice Requirements. However, for purposes of processing such documents onto the Centralized Authorization File (CAF), a completed Form 2848 must be attached. 26 C.F.R. 601.503(b).

An individual must be authorized to practice before the IRS. Circular 230 provides the types of authorized representatives who can practice before the IRS. Note that some types of designations (such as unenrolled return preparers) have limitations on such practice. See IRM 13.1.23.3.1.

If a taxpayer has a Form 2848 on file and has checked the appropriate box requesting the representative receive copies of all notices and communications, the IRS must send a duplicate of all correspondence to such representative. TAS, however, will send the representative the original correspondence and send a copy to the taxpayer. If multiple listed representatives have checked boxes, the IRS will send duplicate notices to the first two recognized representatives listed with checked boxes, but TAS will send the original correspondence to the representative with whom the TAS employee has been working and will send a copy to the second recognized representative as well as the taxpayer. IRS Publication 216, Conference and Practice Requirements, 26 C.F.R. 601.506.

If a taxpayer voices concerns about a representative’s misconduct, provide the taxpayer information on how to report the representative. The procedures for filing the complaint differ depending on whether or not the representative’s misconduct impacts the tax return or refund.

If the misconduct impacts the tax return or refund, direct the taxpayer to file Form 14157, Return Preparer Complaint and Form 14157-A, Tax Return Preparer Fraud or Misconduct Affidavit.

If the misconduct does not impact the return or refund, the taxpayer must send Form 14157 with any supporting documentation to the IRS Return Preparer Office (RPO) by fax or mail as directed on the form instructions.

If the taxpayer does not want to make a referral but a TAS employee has sufficient information about the representative’s violation(s) of Circular 230, a TAS employee must follow the nonstandard disclosure procedures in IRM 13.1.5, Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Confidentiality, to make a referral to the OPR or RPO.

See IRM 13.1.24.6.4.5, Discuss the Research Results with the Taxpayer, when the TAS case involves a potential scheme. For more information, including indication of professional misconduct, see IRM 1.25.1.4, Referral to the Office of Professional Responsibility and IRM 1.25.1-1, How to Make a Referral to the Office of Professional Responsibility.

Taxpayers have a right to retain representation. Before a TAS employee takes any action which could compromise the taxpayer’s representation, extreme care and caution must be taken to protect this right. TAS employees are required to consider whether the representative’s actions are merely aggressive, forceful, or zealous before beginning the process to make a referral or recommending discipline. Remember that annoying behavior by a representative is not grounds to make a referral.

Circular 230, section 10.53(a) provides that if a TAS employee has reason to believe that a practitioner has violated the rules of practice, the employee must make a written report to the appropriate IRS office (OPR or RPO). How a TAS employee complies with Circular 230, section 10.53(a) will depend upon whether the employee has consent of the taxpayer to make the report. If the taxpayer consents to revealing the representative’s actions to OPR/RPO, the TAS employee will make a standard disclosure per IRM 13.1.5.8.1. If, however, the taxpayer does not consent to reporting the representative, the employee should discuss making a referral with their immediate manager and follow the nonstandard disclosure procedures in IRM 13.1.5.8.3.

To determine if a referral to RPO is appropriate, see IRM 13.1.23.5 above and the instructions to Form 14157, Return Preparer Complaint.

A referral to OPR should only be considered if the representative is a practitioner governed by the rules of Circular 230, Regulations Governing Practice before the Internal Revenue Service, as provided in 31 C.F.R. section 10.3. Furthermore, the suspected misconduct must be a violation of the rules set forth in Subpart B of Circular 230 or a violation of Circular 230, section 10.51.

Unfortunately, there are times when TAS employees have doubts about the legitimacy of the Form 2848 authorizing TAS to work with the representative. Each situation will be a bit different, and the tactics may change and evolve over time. Case Advocates must use common sense and good judgment when working these cases. It is important to communicate any changes or patterns observed in these cases with management for a possible referral to Criminal Investigation for further review of any potential scheme. In accordance with IRM 13.1.5.12, Disclosure Regarding Practitioner or Preparer Misconduct, a referral to the OPR or the RPO may be appropriate. Be sure to submit new issues on SAMS.

TAS employees must take the following steps when working a case where there is a reasonable suspicion of an unauthorized representative with no indicators on the Centralized Authorization File. The steps are designed to prevent unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information. It is important that TAS employees take these steps onlywhen there is areasonable suspicion of an unauthorized representative, and not simply when there is a representative who is difficult to contact or has been difficult to work with in the past.

Examples of indicators of potentially unauthorized representatives include (but are not limited to):

Taxpayers have a right to retain representation. TAS employees are required to protect this fundamental taxpayer right. Before any TAS employee bypasses a taxpayer’s representative (also referred to as power of attorney or POA), careful consideration must be given to whether the representative’s behavior rises to the level necessitating a bypass, as detailed below, and is not merely annoying, aggressive, or zealous representation. It is also possible that TAS’s actions have caused or contributed to the problem. As detailed below, TAS employees can only bypass a POA after completing the procedures detailed below, which include final approval from the appropriate Deputy.

IRC 7521(c) allows an IRS employee to contact a represented taxpayer directly (i.e., bypass the power of attorney). Circular 230, section 10.23 provides that a practitioner may not unreasonably delay the prompt disposition of any matter before the IRS and section 10.20(a)(1) provides that a practitioner must promptly submit records or information responsive to an IRS employee’s request unless the practitioner has a good faith, reasonable belief that the records or information are privileged.

Where a representative has unreasonably delayed or hindered an examination, collection, or investigation by failing to furnish, after repeated requests, information necessary for TAS to assist the taxpayer, the TAS employee must evaluate whether a POA bypass would be in the best interest of the taxpayer. Due consideration must be given to the harm imposed on the taxpayer as a result of such delay and whether TAS contributed to such delay. The taxpayer’s right to retain representation must be respected if at all possible. Thus, a POA bypass should be rare.

Managerial approval is crucial in bypass procedures. If a TAS employee suspects an unreasonable delay by a representative, the employee must discuss the possibility of a POA bypass with an immediate supervisor, who must review the issue and attempt to resolve the problem by discussing the problem with the POA. The manager must also determine whether TAS’s actions caused or contributed to the delay. Final approval for bypass is required from the appropriate Deputy. Both the actions of the LTA and Deputy must be documented in TAMIS.

If a TAS employee believes the POA’s unreasonable delay or hindrance is causing undue taxpayer burden or harm, bypass procedures should be considered to initiate direct contact with a taxpayer rather than simply closing the case as a “no response” pursuant to IRM 13.1.18.8.1, Reviewing and Requesting Information from Taxpayers.

If the POA delays or refuses to provide the information requested after repeated attempts, document TAMIS with the circumstances regarding the delay, secure the manager's approval and LTA’s signature for the Bypass POA Warning Letter. The warning letter advises the POA of their responsibilities under sections 10.20 and 10.23 of Circular 230, (31 C.F.R., Subtitle A, Part 10). The warning letter must explain the consequences of continued failure to cooperate. The warning letter must be issued directly to the POA. Although the warning letter does not provide sufficient space for an explanation of why a bypass is necessary and in the best interest of the taxpayer, TAS should attempt to either add to the warning letter or attach an addendum providing a detailed explanation of the basis for the bypass. See TAS website for the Bypass POA Warning Letter.

If the POA continues to delay or refuses to provide the information requested after repeated attempts and the issuance of the Bypass POA Warning Letter, prepare a Bypass POA Letter for the LTA’s signature. The decision to bypass resides with the LTA and is approved by the appropriate Deputy. In taking such an action, the following items must be completed:

The bypass procedures permit the TAS employee to contact the taxpayer directly after the Bypass POA letter has been issued. The representative continues to represent the taxpayer and will continue to receive copies of all correspondence.

In general, TAS employees are required to work with the representative if the taxpayer has a valid Form 2848 on file. Check CAF File Identification Number Query (CFINK) for authorizations.

Taxpayers with POAs on file may contact TAS and request the TAS employee work with them directly instead of working with the authorized representative.

It is not acceptable if a representative submits a new first page of Form 2848 and simply attaches a photocopy of page two from the original Form 2848 that has the taxpayer's signature.

A taxpayer may restrict the representative's authority at any time. The instructions for Lines 5 and 6 of Form 2848 provide procedures for those restrictions. If a Form 2848 has already been filed with the IRS, the taxpayer must file a new Form 2848 listing the restrictions.


There may be situations where it is appropriate to obtain the representative's permission for TAS to communicate directly with the taxpayer about a specific matter. TAS employees can arrange to have the taxpayer and the representative on the phone together and obtain the representative's consent for TAS to contact the taxpayer directly. The details and the scope of the consent must be documented on TAMIS. TAS employees will request the representative confirm the permission in writing, or the TAS employee will follow-up with a letter to the representative summarizing the conversation and agreement. A copy of the letter to the representative must be included in the case file and the TAMIS history must be documented.

For information regarding Powers of Attorney (including information on researching CFINK, explanation of the CFINK codes, how a taxpayer can revoke a power of attorney, etc.), see the Power of Attorney / Third Party Authorizations toolkit under the IRM Supplements tab on SERP. Refer to Publication 947, Practice Before the IRS and Power of Attorney for additional information.

It is common practice for accounting and law firms to list the primary representative first on a Form 2848. Additional staff members may be listed as backup to the primary representative. In addition, LITCs or STCPs often will list two or more individuals on Form 2848. TAS employees only need to contact one of the listed POAs in order to meet the requirement for contacting the taxpayer's representative.

If the taxpayer has multiple POAs on file or if a taxpayer’s Form 2848 lists multiple representatives, copies of all systemically generated notices are sent to the designated POA(s) listed on Line 2 of Form 2848 with the box checked that indicates the taxpayer wants the POA to receive copies of written communications.

If TAS is unable to reach the POA who is handling the TAS case by telephone, send correspondence to that POA even if the taxpayer did not mark the checkbox on Line 2 for that POA to receive the systemically generated notices.

Third party authorizations may be terminated in the following ways, which will depend in part on the type of authorization:

If a taxpayer wishes to revoke an existing authorization, advise the taxpayer to write the word “REVOKE” across the top of the first page of the previously executed authorization (i.e., Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative and Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization), sign and date below the annotation, and submit it to the TAS employee.

If a taxpayer previously executed a Form 2848, and now wants to change representatives, advise the taxpayer that the filing of a new Form 2848 will supersede the previously executed Form 2848 for the same matters, unless the taxpayer checks box 6 on Form 2848.

The filing of a new Form 8821 will only supersede an existing Form 8821 if it is for the same tax matter and tax period. If a taxpayer wants to retain any previously filed Forms 8821 for the same tax matter and same tax period, the box on line 5 must be checked.

If a designee (Form 8821) or representative (Form 2848) wishes to withdraw an authorization, advise them to submit a copy of the previously executed authorization and write the word “Withdraw” across the top of the first page of the form, and include below the annotation their signature with the current date.

If a copy of the authorization that the taxpayer desires to revoke or the form that the designee/representative wishes to withdraw is not available, advise the taxpayer or designee/representative to submit a written statement that contains the following:

If revocation or withdrawal occurs, document TAMIS and update the POA screen to indicate the POA is no longer active. Forward the form or written statement to the CAF unit for processing.