IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: The IRS supports continued expansion; however, full feature parity by the end of FY 2026 is not achievable based on our current capacity and prioritization. The next expansion will include enabling payments on behalf of business taxpayers and providing authorized access to individual digital notices and letters.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: The IRS supports continued expansion; however, full feature parity by the end of FY 2026 is not achievable based on our current capacity and prioritization. The next expansion will include enabling payments on behalf of business taxpayers and providing authorized access to individual digital notices and letters.

TAS RESPONSE: Although the IRS may not be able to bring a comprehensive set of features to Tax Pro Account by the end of FY 2026, the agency continues to expand the available features. The IRS should continue working toward a comprehensive Tax Pro Account.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Partially Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Open

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): Ongoing

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: ​Tax Pro Account currently provides functionality for tax professionals to view and manage active Forms 2848 (Power of Attorney) and Forms 8821 (Tax Information Authorization) associated with their linked CAF numbers, including authorizations submitted digitally or through paper processing. Tax professionals can link their Centralized Authorization File (CAF) number within Tax Pro Account to access these authorizations.

For new digital authorizations, Tax Pro Account requires the taxpayer to authenticate and approve the request through their IRS Online Account. This authentication step aligns with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-63-3, Digital Identity Guidelines, and is a critical safeguard to protect taxpayer information and prevent unauthorized access. Accepting uploaded, executed Forms 2848 and Forms 8821 through Tax Pro Account does not meet current security and identity assurance requirements for reliably authenticating taxpayer signatures and preventing unauthorized submissions.

The IRS continues to see strong utilization of existing capabilities. In FY 2025, more than 170,000 authorizations were created and over 600,000 were withdrawn through Tax Pro Account. The IRS will continue to evaluate enhancements to expand access and usability while maintaining robust security and identity protection standards.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: N/A

TAS RESPONSE: TAS understands the IRS’s concerns about incorporating an authorization upload tool within Tax Pro Account. However, the IRS already provides this tool outside of Tax Pro Account. Given the important role of tax professionals in tax administration, the IRS should continue exploring ways to help tax professionals access taxpayer data easily, quickly, and accurately, while safeguarding taxpayer data.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Not Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: IRS understands practitioners want broader eligibility, simpler multi-representative workflows, and more consistent system performance. Expanding eligibility to additional taxpayer types remains under evaluation, including enhancements such as bulk authorizations withdrawal. However, completion of this action will depend on prioritization.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: Expanding eligibility to additional taxpayer types remains under evaluation, including enhancements such as bulk authorizations withdrawal. However, completion of this action will depend on prioritization.

TAS RESPONSE: Tax professionals play an important role in tax administration. Helping them access taxpayer data easily, quickly, and accurately is essential. Although the IRS is not able to fully expand the Tax Pro authorization tool immediately, continuing to improve the tool is beneficial. The IRS should continue working toward a comprehensive Tax Pro authorization tool.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Partially Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: The IRS will continue to promote awareness of new online account functionalities through a coordinated communications strategy that highlights new features and their uses. This includes updates on IRS.gov, targeted messaging within online account platforms, and outreach to taxpayers and tax professionals through established channels such as Nationwide Tax Forums and other stakeholder engagements.

Efforts will also include expanding the use of instructional resources to demonstrate new features and functionality of Tax Pro Account. These materials will be made available on IRS.gov, including Tax Pro landing pages, to support taxpayer and practitioner adoption of online tools. These efforts will be balanced with other prioritized enhancements and critical maintenance needs and remain dependent on prioritization.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: The IRS will continue to promote awareness of new online account functionalities through a coordinated communications strategy that highlights new features and their uses. This includes updates on IRS.gov, targeted messaging within online account platforms, and outreach to taxpayers and tax professionals through established channels such as Nationwide Tax Forums and other stakeholder engagements.

Efforts will also include expanding the use of instructional resources to demonstrate new features and functionality of Tax Pro Account. These materials will be made available on IRS.gov, including Tax Pro landing pages, to support taxpayer and practitioner adoption of online tools. These efforts will be balanced with other prioritized enhancements and critical maintenance needs and remain dependent on prioritization.

TAS RESPONSE: The IRS’s planned actions will fully implement the recommendation.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Open

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): Ongoing

IRS RESPONSE TO RECOMMENDATION: IRS understands the importance of transparency around development timelines, particularly for tax professionals planning their operations. The IRS maintains an internal development roadmap that guides sequencing and resource decisions. While there are no current plans to publish a formal public roadmap in the near term, we provide updates when new features are released and share planned enhancements through established practitioner forums and communications channels.

CORRECTIVE ACTION: N/A

TAS RESPONSE: TAS understands the IRS’s concerns with sharing development timelines publicly. However, the IRS should share development timelines with internal stakeholders to ensure prioritization correctly reflects taxpayer and tax professional needs.

ADOPTED, PARTIALLY ADOPTED or NOT ADOPTED: Not Adopted

OPEN or CLOSED: Closed

DUE DATE FOR ACTION (if left open): N/A