IRS Form 8655 is the document that authorizes ADP to sign and file your employment tax returns, make federal tax deposits, and receive IRS notices on your behalf. To complete it, you enter your business’s legal name and EIN, add ADP’s reporting agent information, check the boxes for each tax form and deposit authority you want to delegate along with the starting period, sign it, and submit it either through ADP’s client portal or by mail or fax to the IRS processing center in Ogden, Utah. The form itself takes about fifteen minutes if your records are handy; IRS processing after that runs several weeks.
What to Have Ready Before You Start
Three pieces of information make the rest of the form straightforward. Your federal Employer Identification Number, the nine-digit number the IRS assigned when your business registered.1Internal Revenue Service. About Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number (EIN) Your business’s legal name exactly as it appears on your most recent IRS correspondence or your original SS-4 application. And ADP’s reporting agent information: corporate name, address, and EIN.
Match your legal name character for character. An ampersand where the IRS has “and,” or a missing comma in an LLC name, is enough for the IRS to reject the authorization. If you access Form 8655 through ADP’s payroll dashboard, ADP’s portion is usually pre-filled. If you’re working from a blank IRS copy downloaded from irs.gov, your ADP representative can give you the exact corporate name and address for your region, since ADP operates multiple service centers. The current revision of the form is dated January 2024.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 8655 – Reporting Agent Authorization
Your Business Information (Lines 1–8)
Line 1a is your business’s legal name, not a trade name or DBA. If you operate under a different name than the one on file with the IRS, put the trade name on Line 1b. Line 2 is your EIN. Line 3 is your mailing address with street, city, state, and ZIP.
Line 4 is a checkbox for seasonal employers. Only check it if your business operates during specific months each year and the IRS has already approved seasonal filing status. Line 5 is an optional additional identification number. Lines 6, 7, and 8 ask for a contact person at your business, a daytime phone, and a fax number.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 8655 – Reporting Agent Authorization
ADP’s Reporting Agent Information (Lines 9–14)
Lines 9 through 14 identify ADP. Enter ADP’s company name on Line 9, address on Lines 10 and 11, EIN on Line 12, contact person on Line 13, and phone number on Line 14. When ADP hands you a pre-populated form, this section is already done. If you’re filling in a blank form, confirm the specific ADP entity name with your representative before you sign.
Choosing What Authority to Grant
Lines 15, 16, and 18 are where the actual delegation happens. Each covers a different type of authority, and each needs a starting period entered in the format the IRS requires: “YYYY/MM” for quarterly returns, where MM is the last month of the quarter, or “YYYY” for annual returns.
Line 15: Signing and Filing Returns
Line 15 lets ADP sign and file specific employment tax returns. Check the box next to each form you want ADP to handle and enter the starting period. The forms available on Line 15 are:
- Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, for withheld income tax and both shares of Social Security and Medicare taxes.3Internal Revenue Service. About Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return
- Form 940, Annual Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) return.
- Form 944, annual return for employers whose total employment tax liability is $1,000 or less per year.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 941
- Form 943, annual return for agricultural employees.
- Form 945, annual return for withheld federal income tax from nonpayroll payments.
- Form 1042, annual withholding tax return for U.S. source income of foreign persons.
- Form CT-1, Employer’s Annual Railroad Retirement Tax Return.
When ADP signs these returns, they sign under penalty of perjury on your behalf. The delegation does not erase your own liability as the employer.5Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2012-32
Line 16: Making Deposits and Payments
Line 16 authorizes ADP to make federal tax deposits and payments through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. The list of eligible forms is broader than Line 15 and adds Forms 720, 1041, 1120, 990-PF, and 990-T.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 8655 – Reporting Agent Authorization Reporting agents are required to make deposits electronically through EFTPS.6Internal Revenue Service. Reporting Agents File (RAF) Enter the starting month in “YYYY/MM” format.
Line 18: Disclosure Authority for Information Returns
Lines 18a, 18b, and 18c are optional and cover a different category: letting ADP receive confidential information from the IRS about W-2, 1099, and Forms 3921/3922 notices. If ADP prepares your information returns and you want them to handle any IRS notices about discrepancies, check the relevant boxes and enter the calendar year the authority begins. Skip these lines and ADP will not receive those notices, even if they filed the underlying returns.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 8655 – Reporting Agent Authorization
Who Can Sign
The IRS is specific about who qualifies to sign, and it depends on your entity type:
- Sole proprietorship: the individual owner.
- Corporation or LLC taxed as a corporation: an officer with legal authority to bind the corporation, any person designated by the board of directors, or any officer or employee acting on written request from a principal officer.
- Partnership or LLC taxed as a partnership: any person who was a member during any part of the tax period covered by the form.
- Single-member LLC treated as a disregarded entity: the owner.
- Trust or estate: the fiduciary.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 8655 – Reporting Agent Authorization
If the signer’s authority is thin, the IRS can reject the form, so having a senior officer sign is the safer path when the option is available.
Electronic Signatures
The IRS accepts electronic signatures on Form 8655. Approved methods include selecting a checkbox on a computer or tablet and using a stylus device, provided the process meets IRS identity verification requirements.7Internal Revenue Service. 10.10.1 IRS Electronic Signature (e-Signature) Program Saved versions of electronically signed forms must display evidence of the e-signature, per IRS Publication 1474.8Internal Revenue Service. Technical Specifications Guide For Reporting Agent Authorization and Federal Tax Depositors A wet ink signature is not required by the IRS, though your ADP account team may prefer one for their own records.
Where to Send the Signed Form
ADP clients usually submit the form through ADP’s payroll dashboard. The upload feeds directly into ADP’s processing queue, and ADP then transmits the authorization to the IRS on your behalf. In many cases you do not need to mail or fax anything to the IRS yourself. Confirm with your ADP contact which path applies to your account.
If you are sending the form to the IRS directly, mail it to:
Internal Revenue Service
Accounts Management Service Center
MS 6748 RAF Team
1973 North Rulon White Blvd.
Ogden, UT 84404
You can also fax the form to 855-214-7523.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 8655 – Reporting Agent Authorization
After You Submit
Once the IRS receives Form 8655, they update their records to recognize ADP as your reporting agent. The disclosure authorization takes effect when you sign and the IRS receives the form.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 8655 – Reporting Agent Authorization Filing and deposit authority begins with the period you entered on Lines 15 and 16. Plan on several weeks for the IRS to fully process the authorization and for ADP’s access to be operational.
Once active, the IRS can discuss your employment tax account with ADP and send duplicate copies of notices, transcripts, and correspondence for the returns you delegated.6Internal Revenue Service. Reporting Agents File (RAF) You can verify status through ADP’s portal or by watching for the next quarterly return to file cleanly under ADP’s signature.
Changing or Revoking the Authorization
To revoke an existing authorization, take your originally signed copy of Form 8655, write “REVOKE” across the top, re-sign below the original signature, and mail it to the same Ogden address. If you no longer have a copy, send a written statement instead. The statement must say you are revoking the reporting agent’s authority, include your business name and EIN, list the name and address of the agent being revoked, and be signed by the taxpayer.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 8655 – Reporting Agent Authorization
If you are switching to a different reporting agent, filing a new Form 8655 automatically revokes the prior authorization beginning with the period on the new form.6Internal Revenue Service. Reporting Agents File (RAF)
What Form 8655 Does Not Cover
Form 8655 is limited to employment tax filings, deposits, and the information-return notices covered by Line 18. It does not authorize ADP to represent you in an IRS audit, negotiate a payment plan, or access your personal income tax records. The form does not revoke any existing Power of Attorney (Form 2848) or Tax Information Authorization (Form 8821) you already have on file.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 8655 – Reporting Agent Authorization If you need someone to represent you before the IRS in a broader capacity, you’ll need Form 2848 alongside the 8655.
The form is also federal only. Most states require separate authorization forms for state income tax withholding, unemployment insurance, and other payroll taxes. ADP typically handles the state-level authorizations as part of onboarding, but the forms vary by state. Ask your ADP representative which state authorizations you’ll need to sign for each state where you have employees.