Semibum

Thanks to all for your help and suggested solution. We'll go that route and see if that solves the problem. By the way, Jack from Ohio, this lady is the only tax return, other than our own, that I prepare and i don't do it for compensation. Just to help her out. Something I hope and plan not to change! I am happily retired and have no plans to start preparing returns for compensation. That is an important and valuable job, just not for me at this time. I'll leave it to you experts! Thanks again to all.

I have been preparing form 1040 NR-EZ for a friend of the family on an unpaid basis. The lady in question is in her late 80s and lives in France. Her tax liability stems from a small survivor's pension she receives from a US multinational for which her husband worked based on the time he worked for them in the USA. He - now deceased - and she were/are both French nationals. I do not sign the returns. I prepare(d) them and sent them to her for review and signature and she files them with the IRS For a number of years everything has been running smoothly. Unfortunately, in the 2014 return, one digit in the ITIN was mistyped (a 2 instead of a 1). To make a long story short, the IRS has notified her that she "needs to take action" but not about what action to take. On her behalf I tried calling many IRS numbers but it is no longer possible to select an option to talk to a person. Today I visited the local IRS office and was informed I needed to submit a PoA on Form 2848 before they could talk to me. Enter the problem: I am not a licensed tax preparer nor do I intend to become one (time would be too short anyway). It appears to me that Form 2848 deals with paid return preparers who do require a CAF number and ITIN. a. How can I get a valid PoA given my situation b. Which form should be used c, What to do about CAF number and PTIN Any help, insights or suggestions greatly appreciated!