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Power of Attorney for unpaid, non-signing preparer


Semibum

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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!

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You could compose a letter from her stating that she has noticed an error with the ITIN and providing the correct one.  The letter could also ask  if this will be sufficient to adddress the issue or if she needs to take any further action.  Send it to her with instructions for her to sign it and mail to the IRS.  (I assume there is an address on the notice)  If IRS wants anything else done to correct the problem, they will contact her.  

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Form 2848 will be of no benefit.  Even form 8821 won't allow you to talk to the IRS about the situation. 

John H has given the best advice for you.  If the initial letter to the IRS does not solve the issue, she may need to provide more documentation and/or find an E.A. to represent her.

For the record, any return you prepare after 12/31/15, unless you have an IRS issued designation (AFSP, E.A., CPA or Attorney) even if you have a PTIN and sign as a paid preparer, you will not even be able to talk to the IRS about your client's return at all.

If you intend to continue preparing returns, earning your Enrolled Agent status is the way to go.

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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.

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KC.  Just for the record, I did notice that the poster was not a tax pro.  Ordinarily I would have just clicked off and not commented.  But since the OP was trying to help someone else (not asking for personal tax advice) and the solution was obvious, I decided to make an exception in this rare situation.  I do agree  it's generally a bad idea to encourage non-preparers on this forum.

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