More Tax Professionals Can Now Use IRS E-Services

By Jay Dismukes

The Internal Revenue Service announc-ed last month that tax professionals who e-file five or more individual or business returns in a calendar year will now have access to related electronic services previously off limits to anyone who e-filed fewer than 100 individual returns.

The lowering of this filing threshold to allow virtually all tax professionals to do things such as check account transcripts and get powers of attorney online is considered a major boon for the practitioner community, which actively sought increased availability of the IRS’ e-services.

“This is a big home run for practitioners to be able to get this online and to be able to deal with the Service,” said David Sands, partner with Buchbinder Tunick & Company LLP in Manhattan.

The additional e-service products now available include disclosure authorization, which allows tax professionals to complete, view and modify online disclosure authorizations forms, including Form 2848, “Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative,” and Form 8821, “Tax Information Authorization.” The electronic account resolution service allows tax professionals who already have power of attorney to electronically send and receive information about individual or business account problems, refunds, installment agreements, missing payments or notices. And the transcript delivery system service enables tax professionals with power of attorney to electronically request and receive account and various other transcripts.

Among those whose feedback was considered, the Society’s Relations with the IRS Committee, chaired by Sands, and its E-Filing Task Force held many meetings with IRS representatives over the last two years to encourage them to reduce the filing threshold so that more professionals could utilize the e-filing services.

“They finally heard us and said, ‘All right, you got it down to five (returns), now there is no reason for any practitioner not to start e-filing and take advantage of these services,’” Sands said.

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