Information Document Requests (IDRs) serve to gather the facts and documents needed to understand and verify the elements that you stated on your tax return. Taxpayers should use Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization, only to authorize a person or organization to receive or inspect confidential tax return information and not for the purpose of authorizing the taxpayer's representation before the IRS. Taxpayers should use Form 4506, Request for a Copy of the Tax Return, if the taxpayer wants to authorize the release of a tax return to a third party, but the taxpayer does not want to authorize the third party to represent the taxpayer before the IRS. Powers of attorney executed in accordance with state law may or may not be sufficient for IRS purposes, depending on whether the above items (a) to (f) are included in a non-IRS document.
Only attorneys, certified public accountants, or enrolled agents can represent a taxpayer on appeals. An unregistered preparer can be a witness at the conference, but not a representative. The conciliation officer can contact the lawyer in the National Office because Appeals has the right to obtain legal advice from the lead counsel's lawyers and because the restriction on ex-parte communications that applies to the field lawyer in the second example does not apply to the lawyer in the National Office in this example. A power of attorney is filed when a taxpayer wants to authorize a person, generally a Circular 230 professional, to defend or otherwise represent the taxpayer before the IRS.
The practice before the IRS covers all matters related to a filing with the IRS, or any of its officers or employees, regarding the rights, privileges, or responsibilities of a taxpayer under laws or regulations administered by the IRS. To appoint a representative, you must have on file a POA statement, FTB 3520 PIT (Individual or Trusteeship Power of Attorney) or FTB 3520 BE, non-resident power of attorney statement of FTB 3520 BE, business entity or group. We encourage your participation and feedback during the development of the audit plan, which can reduce your concerns about what to expect during the audit. However, appellate workers should not communicate ex parte on a matter of a case pending before them with a field lawyer if the field lawyer personally provided legal advice on the same topic in the same case to the original function or acted personally as an advocate for the original function in relation to the same issue in the same case.
Examples include the Commissioner and other IRS officials with general responsibilities for overseeing IRS operations, the lawyer, criminal investigation (CI), the competent authority, and the TAS (see above). The primary purpose of OPR activities is to ensure that those who practice before the IRS on behalf of taxpayers have good character and reputation and the qualifications and competencies necessary to provide valuable service to clients and help them present their cases or other matters to the IRS. However, the IRS will accept a power of attorney other than Form 2848 if the document contains all the information necessary to meet the requirements of a power of attorney. The same circumstances as in the second example, except that a lead lawyer from the National Office previously issued advice from lead counsel to Field Counsel Smith regarding the federal tax lien and the unobligated spouse's participation in the property.
The taxpayer most commonly uses Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Representative Statement, to appoint an eligible person to represent the taxpayer before the IRS during inquiries and disputes related to tax liabilities, in connection with requests for resolution of letters and for any other purpose that constitutes the defense of the taxpayer's position. The taxpayer told the revenue official that he was too busy to update his financial records to provide the IRS with the necessary financial statements and, abruptly, said, “The IRS will be paid when they pay me.”. The lawyer must assign to Collection an attorney who has not previously counseled on the same issue in the same case, or the appeals must offer the taxpayer an opportunity to participate in the conversation between the conciliation officer and the lawyer from Campo Smith. .
