Updated October 8, 2026. Quick answer: Form 2848 authorizes an individual who is eligible to practice before the IRS to represent you, and it also lets that person inspect and receive your confidential tax information. The representative can be an attorney, CPA or enrolled agent, among the other designations the form lists. Line 3 must name the matter, form and years, a general reference such as all years is returned, and the form does not authorize cashing a government refund check.
Related reading on this site: IRS Notice CP05A (documents to verify wages and withholding), IRS Letter 4883C (identity verification by phone), IRS Letter 12C (request for more information) and IRS notices and letters by number.
Form lines read one part at a time: Form 2848 lines 1 and 2, Form 2848 lines 3 to 7 and Form 2848 Part II.
IRS estate-administration forms, read line by line: Form 56 Part II, Form 56 Parts III and IV and Form 706-NA Part I.
More IRS forms and schedules, read line by line: Form 8821 instructions and Form 4506-T instructions.
More IRS forms and schedules, read line by line: Form 1042-S instructions.
What Form 2848 does
The instructions open with the purpose: “Use Form 2848 to authorize an individual to represent you before the IRS.” Two conditions follow. “The individual you authorize must be eligible to practice before the IRS.” And the same authorization carries access: “Your authorization of an eligible representative will also allow that individual to inspect and/or receive your confidential tax information.”
It is not a transfer of your obligations: “Authorizing someone to represent you does not relieve you of your tax obligations.” The form itself limits its reach: “Form 2848 will not be honored for any purpose other than representation before the IRS.” If a notice has landed and you are deciding whether to hire help, the IRS notices page and the collection notices in order page explain what the letters are before anyone is authorized to act on them.
Who can be a representative
The form’s Part II lists the designations. The instructions repeat the entries and what each representative enters:
| Item | Designation printed in the instructions | What the representative enters |
|---|---|---|
| a | Attorney | State of admission and bar or license number, if any |
| b | Certified Public Accountant | State of license and certification or license number, if any |
| c | Enrolled Agent | Enrollment card number |
| d | Officer | Title of the officer |
| e | Full-Time Employee | Title or position |
| f | Family Member | Relationship to the taxpayer |
| g | Enrolled Actuary | Enrollment card number from the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries |
| h | Unenrolled Return Preparer | PTIN |
| k | Qualifying Student or Law Graduate | LITC or STCP |
| r | Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent | Enrollment card number issued by the Return Preparer Office |
The family member designation is limited to a listed set of relatives: “must be a spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, step-child, step-brother, or step-sister”. Unenrolled return preparers get narrower rights: “Unenrolled return preparers cannot represent taxpayers, regardless of the circumstances requiring representation, before appeals officers, revenue officers, attorneys from the Office of Chief Counsel”, and they may represent only “during an examination of the tax period covered by the tax return they prepared and signed”. A preparer who does not meet the requirements can be given access without representation rights: “Filing a Form 8821 will not authorize the unenrolled return preparer to represent you.”
Line by line
| Form line | Heading | What goes there |
|---|---|---|
| Line 1 | Taxpayer information | Name, taxpayer identification number and address of the taxpayer; one form per taxpayer |
| Line 2 | Representative(s) | Name, address, CAF number and PTIN of each representative |
| Line 3 | Acts authorized | Description of matter, tax form number and years or periods |
| Line 4 | Specific use not recorded on the CAF | A box for one-time or specific-issue authority |
| Line 5a | Additional acts authorized | Intermediate Service Provider access, disclosure to third parties, substitute or add a representative, sign a return, other acts |
| Line 5b | Specific acts not authorized | Acts the taxpayer does not want performed |
| Line 6 | Retention or revocation of prior powers | A box to keep an earlier power in effect |
| Line 7 | Taxpayer declaration and signature | Signature, date and title if signing for another |
| Part II | Declaration of Representative | Each representative signs and enters the designation letter |
Line 1. “Enter the information requested about you. Do not enter information about any other person, including your spouse, except as stated in the specific instructions below.” Spouses with a joint return each need their own form: “you must each submit separate Forms 2848 even if you are authorizing the same representative(s) to represent you.” The address on the form does not update the IRS file: “Address information provided on Form 2848 will not change your last known address with the IRS.”
Line 2. “You may only name individuals who are eligible to practice before the IRS as representatives.” Each representative’s CAF number goes here, and the instructions describe it as “a unique nine-digit identification number” that the IRS assigns. The notices box has a limit: “You may not designate more than two representatives on Form 2848 (or designees on a Form 8821) to receive copies of notices and communications sent to you by the IRS for the same matter(s).”
Line 3. “In order for the power of attorney to be valid, you must enter the description of the matter, the tax form number (where applicable), and the year(s) or period(s) (where applicable).” Vagueness is rejected: “The IRS will return any power of attorney with a general reference.” “Do not use a general reference such as “All years,” “All periods,” or “All taxes.”” Coverage is also limited by what you write: “Representation only applies for the years or periods listed on line 3.” Future years can be listed, but “the IRS will not record on the CAF system future tax years or periods listed that exceed 3 years from December 31 of the year that the IRS receives the power of attorney.” On penalties: “Unless you specifically provide otherwise on line 5b, your authorization of tax matters on line 3 includes representation for penalties, payments, and interest related to a specific tax return.”
Line 4. “Check the box on line 4 if the power of attorney is for a specific use or issue that the IRS will not record on the CAF.” Line 5a and 5b change the scope, and are covered in the next section. Line 6 covers earlier authorizations: “If the IRS records this power of attorney on the CAF system, it will generally revoke any earlier power of attorney previously recorded on the system for the same matter.” “Filing Form 2848 will not revoke any Form 8821 that is in effect.”
Line 7 and Part II. “You must handwrite your signature on Form 2848 if you file it by mail or by fax.” “Forms 2848 with an electronic signature image or digitized image of a handwritten signature may only be submitted to the IRS online at IRS.gov/Submit2848.” The usual order is the taxpayer first, and “for domestic authorizations, the representative must sign within 45 days from the date the taxpayer signed”. In Part II, “The representative(s) you name must sign and date this declaration”, and the form states that the declaration is made “Under penalties of perjury”.
What the form authorizes, and what it does not
The grant is broad by default: “this power of attorney authorizes the listed representative(s) to inspect and/or receive confidential tax information and to perform all acts (that is, sign agreements, consents, waivers, or other documents) that you can perform with respect to matters described in the power of attorney.”
The exclusions: “Representatives are not authorized to endorse or otherwise negotiate any check” covering a refund or other payment “issued by the government in respect of a federal tax liability.” Unless line 5a says otherwise, “this authorization does not include the power to substitute or add another representative, the power to sign certain returns, the power to execute a request for disclosure of tax returns or return information to a third party, or to access IRS records via an Intermediate Service Provider.”
Signing a return is tightly limited: “Treasury Regulations section 1.6012-1(a)(5) permits another person to sign an income tax return for you only in these circumstances:”
- “Disease or injury,”
- “Continuous absence from the United States (including absence from Puerto Rico) for a period of at least 60 days prior to the date required by law for filing the return, or”
- “Specific permission is requested of and granted by the IRS for other good cause.”
For an agent who is not a representative the instructions add “The agent does not complete Part II of Form 2848.”
Form 2848 versus Form 8821 and other forms
The instructions separate representation from information access: “Use Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization, if you want to authorize an individual or organization to inspect and/or receive your confidential tax return information, but do not want to authorize an individual to represent you before the IRS.”
Fiduciaries have a third form: “Use Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship, to notify the IRS of the existence of a fiduciary relationship.” Other powers of attorney can sometimes be used: “The IRS will accept a power of attorney other than Form 2848 provided the document satisfies the requirements for a power of attorney.” For a general (non tax) power of attorney, the state side is covered at statutory power of attorney forms and requirements by state, and misuse is discussed at power of attorney abuse. What happens to an agent’s authority at death is on the bank account after death page.
Revoking, withdrawing and changing a representative
To revoke without naming a new person: “you must write “REVOKE” across the top of the first page with a current signature and date below this annotation.” A representative who wants out follows a parallel step: “he or she must write “WITHDRAW” across the top of the first page of the power of attorney with a current signature and date below the annotation.” On an address change: “The representative can send a written notification that includes the new information and the representative’s signature to the location where you filed the Form 2848.”
How to file
The route depends on line 4: “If you check the box on line 4, mail or fax Form 2848 to the IRS office handling the specific matter.” Otherwise the options are online, fax or mail. Online: “Submit your Form 2848 securely at IRS.gov/Submit2848.” “You will need to have a Secure Access account to submit your Form 2848 online.” Electronic signatures require that route: “If you use an electronic signature (see Electronic Signatures below), you must submit your Form 2848 online.”
For fax or mail, the Where To File Chart assigns an office by where the taxpayer lives:
| Where you live | Address printed in the Where To File Chart | Fax number printed |
|---|---|---|
| Group 1: the chart’s first list of states, beginning with Alabama and ending with West Virginia | Internal Revenue Service, 5333 Getwell Road, Stop 8423, Memphis, TN 38118 | 855-214-7519 |
| Group 2: the chart’s second list of states, beginning with Alaska and ending with Wyoming | Internal Revenue Service, 1973 Rulon White Blvd., MS 6737, Ogden, UT 84201 | 855-214-7522 |
| Group 3: APO and FPO addresses, territories, a foreign country, or otherwise outside the United States | Internal Revenue Service, International CAF Team, 2970 Market Street, MS: 4-H14.123., Philadelphia, PA 19104 | 855-772-3156 (304-707-9785 outside the United States) |
The IRS flags the fax numbers: “These numbers may change without notice.” Check IRS.gov/Form2848 before faxing. The first page also points to a digital option: “For faster processing of certain authorizations, use the all-digital Tax Pro Account at IRS.gov/TaxProAccount.” Once a representative is in place, the practical next steps are on the pages about payment plans, collection due process rights, the CP2000 notice and the math error notice.
Which revision applies
The edition read for this page is the Instructions for Form 2848 (Rev. September 2021) together with the January 2021 form, which is the revision irs.gov served when it was read on 2026-10-08. The IRS had not replaced it at that point, so anything newer reaches you only through the notice on IRS.gov/Form2848. Check the revision printed on the form you are filing. “For the latest information about developments related to Form 2848 and its instructions, go to IRS.gov/Form2848.”
Common mistakes
- Writing a general reference such as all years or all taxes on line 3. The instructions say the IRS will return a power of attorney with a general reference, so each matter, form and period has to be listed.
- Expecting one form to cover both spouses on a joint return. The instructions require separate Forms 2848 for spouses, even for the same representative.
- Assuming the representative can deposit or cash a refund check. The instructions say representatives are not authorized to endorse or negotiate a check issued by the government in respect of a federal tax liability.
Related: IRS notices, collection notices in order, IRS payment plans, and collection due process rights.
Sources
- Instructions for Form 2848 (Rev. September 2021): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i2848.pdf
- Form 2848 (Rev. January 2021): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2848.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 8, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.