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Hiring a Representative: the Power of Attorney

Power of Attorney As soon as you make the decision to hire someone to represent you in from of the IRS or state, things should start to more pretty quickly if you’ve brought on an experienced and reliable representative.

The very first thing any representative should do when working on a case is to get a signed Power of Attorney (POA) over to the IRS. This allows the representative to contact the IRS on your behalf and discuss your situation with whomever is in control of the case – whether it be Automated Collections or a Revenue Officer. One major thing to note is that many companies pre-populate a Power of Attorney form for you to sign even before you decide to hire them. This is a big no-no. Ultimately you will have an individual who is licensed at that company represent you, but if you receive a blank Power of Attorney, you will not know who your representative is until after they have signed the form. You should always be the last one to sign a Power of Attorney so that you know what tax periods the document covers and who your representative is.

If you hired a representative and you haven’t received a signed Power of Attorney with the tax periods indicated on the first page within the first 24-48 hours after your decision, you may want to rethink who you want representing you.