Tax Byte

Hey, tax pros — have you checked out the IRS’s upgrades to its online Tax Pro Account tool? The IRS announced last Friday its expansion of Tax Pro Account features, now providing you with access to new services to help clients.  

New additions to the digital self-service Tax Pro Account portal include:

• management of active client authorizations on file with the Centralized Authorization File (CAF) database (tax pros can now send Power of Attorney (POA) and Tax Information Authorization (TIA) requests directly to a taxpayer’s individual IRS Online Account);
• the ability to view client’s tax information, including balance due amounts; and
• easier withdraw from active authorizations online in real time.

“Tax professionals provide a vital service to taxpayers and the nation, and the IRS is committed to making improvements to help them serve their clients,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “As part of our transformation efforts, we will be working to add new technology and expand our relationship with the tax professional community. The ongoing improvements to the Tax Pro Account are just part of a larger effort.”

Notably, the digital authorization process is available only for individual taxpayers, not businesses or other entities. And there have been some reports from tax pros that when they first tried the tool’s upgrades, they received inaccurate balance due information for clients. However, many of those inaccurate balance due amounts have since been corrected within the platform, and the IRS says it is committed to improving and expanding the Tax Pro Account tool moving forward.