Check Your IRS Online Account: Is Your Representative Really on File?

There is a free tool that answers most of the anxious questions clients ask me. Did my representative file anything? Is the IRS still showing the same balance? Did my payment post? Is there a new notice?

It is your IRS online account. Most people who owe the IRS have never signed in. If you are paying someone to deal with the IRS, you should.

What the online account shows

According to the IRS, your individual online account lets you do the following, among other things:

• View key tax return information and access transcripts.
• View digital copies of certain IRS notices.
• View balances owed by tax year.
• Make payments, schedule payments, and view up to five years of payment history.
• View, create, and revise payment plans.
• View authorizations, and approve and electronically sign a power of attorney or tax information authorization from your tax professional.
• View your audit status for certain audits conducted by mail.

The IRS notes that if you are new, you should have photo identification ready for identity verification, and its 2026 Dirty Dozen list warns that criminals may pose as helpers during account setup. Create your account directly through irs.gov, yourself.

How authorizations get there

There are two main routes. A professional can file a paper or online Form 2848 or Form 8821 that the IRS records. Or the professional can use the IRS's Tax Pro Account to send you a request.

The IRS's Tax Pro Account page explains that professionals can request power of attorney and tax information authorization for individual taxpayers there, and that once the taxpayer creates an account and signs in, they can view and approve the request in their Authorizations. The IRS says only attorneys, CPAs, enrolled agents, enrolled actuaries, and enrolled retirement plan agents can request power of attorney through Tax Pro Account, while anyone can request a tax information authorization.

Tax Pro Account requests are limited to individual taxpayers with an address in a U.S. state or the District of Columbia, and the address entered must match IRS records. Requests can cover periods from the last 20 years through the current year plus three future years for certain matters, including Form 1040 income tax and civil penalties.

Power of attorney or just information access?

When you look at your authorizations, notice which kind each one is. The difference matters.

The two kinds of authorization you may see

Both definitions come from the IRS's Form 2848 instructions. A firm that has only a tax information authorization on file can see your records, but cannot represent you. If you were told you are "protected" or "represented," check which kind is there. The investigation fee chapter explains why firms sometimes start with Form 8821.

What to look for, step by step

1. Sign in and open your authorizations. Note each representative's name, the type of authorization, the tax matters, and the years.
2. Match the name to the professional you hired and verified. A company name alone is not a representative.
3. Check the years. If your problem involves six years and the authorization lists two, ask why.
4. Look at your balances by year. Compare them with what your representative told you.
5. Look at your payment history. Confirm that any payments you made, or were told were made, actually posted.
6. Look for new notices. Make sure your representative has seen them.

Old authorizations you forgot about

You may find names you do not expect: a preparer from years ago, a firm you stopped using, a company you only talked to once. Old authorizations can linger.

The Form 2848 instructions explain that when the IRS records a new power of attorney on its Centralized Authorization File for the same matter, it generally revokes earlier ones recorded for that matter, unless you check the box on line 6 and attach a copy of the authorization you want to keep. The Tax Pro Account page says the same about online requests: prior authorizations for the same tax matters, periods, and authorization types will be revoked.

If you want to revoke an old authorization without naming a new representative, the instructions say to write "REVOKE" across the top of the first page of a copy, with a current signature and date, and send it to the IRS as the instructions direct. The full process is in switching tax representatives.

When the account and the story do not match

If weeks have passed since you paid and no authorization appears, ask your representative when it was filed and how. Processing takes time, especially for paper forms, so a short delay is not alarming. A long one with no explanation is.

If the balance has grown and you were told it was being handled, ask what has been submitted to the IRS and when. If payments you made through a third party are not in your payment history, stop sending money that way and read never pay the IRS through your representative.

If you cannot get into the account

Identity verification does not work for everyone on the first try. If you cannot create or access an online account, the IRS says you can request an account transcript by mail, noting that each account transcript covers a single tax year and may not show the most recent penalties, interest, changes, or pending actions. Businesses and individuals who filed something other than a Form 1040 can use Form 4506-T to request transcripts.

Your representative can also pull transcripts with a valid authorization and share them with you. Ask for copies. They are your records, and Circular 230 section 10.28 covers returning client records on request.

Using the account with your representative

The online account is not a replacement for your representative. It is a way to work with them better. When you see a new notice in your account, forward it. When you make a payment, send the confirmation. When the balance changes in a way you do not understand, ask.

Good representatives welcome that. It means they are working with an informed client who sees the same information they do. It also means problems get caught early, while there is still time to fix them, instead of at the end of the case.

If the person you hired discourages you from checking your own account, that is a red flag. There is nothing in your IRS account that you are not entitled to see.

Business accounts are separate

Everything above describes the individual online account. Business taxes, such as payroll taxes reported on Form 941, are handled through separate business channels. The IRS's payments page describes a Business Tax Account that lets businesses view their balance due and payment history.

If your IRS problem involves a business, ask your representative which accounts and forms the authorization covers, and check the business side too. A power of attorney for your personal Form 1040 does not cover your company's payroll taxes unless those matters are listed.

Share what you see

When you notice something in your account that you do not understand, write it down with the date and ask your representative about it in your next conversation. A new notice, a changed balance, or an unfamiliar authorization is exactly the kind of detail that can change a strategy. Two sets of eyes on the same account catch more than one.

A habit worth keeping

Sign in once a month while your case is open. It takes a few minutes. You will see the same things your representative sees, which makes your conversations with them better and keeps everyone honest, including me.

When a client tells me they have been checking their account, I am glad. It means fewer surprises for both of us.