How to Fill Out Form 2678: Employer/Payer Appointment of Agent

To fill out Form 2678, the employer completes Parts 1 and 2 (choosing whether to appoint or revoke an agent, entering identifying information, and checking which employment tax forms the agent will handle), the agent completes Part 3 with their own information and signature, and the signed form goes by mail to either the Kansas City or Ogden IRS service center depending on your state. The IRS takes about 30 days to process it, and once approved, both you and the agent share legal responsibility for the taxes involved.

Before You Start

Form 2678 appoints a Section 3504 agent to file employment tax returns, make deposits, and submit payments on your behalf. It covers FICA taxes, Railroad Retirement Tax Act taxes, federal income tax withholding, and backup withholding.¹ Once approved, the agent files aggregate returns under the agent’s own EIN, combining your data with other clients’ and attaching a Schedule R to allocate each employer’s share.²

One thing to know before you sign: appointing an agent creates joint and several liability under 26 CFR 31.3504-1. The IRS can pursue you, the agent, or both for unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest.³ Handing payroll funds to your agent is not the same as paying the IRS. Pick accordingly.

The form cannot be filed electronically. You will need original signatures from both parties before mailing.

Part 1: Choose Appointment or Revocation

Check one of two boxes: appoint an agent, or revoke an existing appointment.⁴ Only one action per form. If you are replacing one agent with another, file two separate forms.

Part 2: Employer or Payer Information

Enter your EIN, legal name, trade name if different, and address. Use the legal name exactly as it appears on your EIN assignment notice. Mismatches are a common reason the IRS rejects the form.

On line 5, check the box next to each tax form the agent will handle:

Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return (authority extends to all 941-series forms, including Form 941-X amended returns).
Form 944, Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return, for employers the IRS has notified to file annually.
Form 943, Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees.
Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return, subject to the restriction below.

Whenever you check a box, authority automatically extends to related versions such as the Spanish-language form, the amended return, and the payment voucher.⁵ For each form, indicate whether the agent will act for all employees and payees or only some.⁴

Sign and date Part 2, then hand the form to your agent.

The FUTA Restriction

Most employers cannot appoint an agent for Form 940. The only exception is an individual receiving home care services through a state or local program. If that applies to you, check the footnote box on line 5, and also appoint the agent for FICA and income tax withholding on the same form. A business entity that checks this box will have the form rejected, because the exception applies only to individuals.⁵

Part 3: Agent Information

The agent enters their own EIN, legal name, trade name, and address, then signs and dates the form. The agent’s signature is an acknowledgment that they accept the appointment and the tax responsibilities that come with it.⁴ Once both signatures are on the paper, the form is ready to mail.

Where to Mail Form 2678

Send the signed form to the IRS service center that matches your principal place of business. The IRS has published corrected addresses that differ from some older instructions, so use the current list:⁶

Kansas City, MO 64999: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Ogden, UT 84201: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

If you have no legal residence or principal place of business in any state, mail the form to Ogden, UT 84201. Exempt organizations and government entities filing for Form 941 purposes use Ogden, UT 84201-0046.⁷

What Happens After You File

The IRS processes Form 2678 in about 30 days from receipt.⁸ Once the appointment is approved, the IRS mails a confirmation letter to both the employer and the agent. Keep that letter with your tax records. It is your proof that the agent’s authority is on file.

The agent’s authority is not effective until the IRS processes the request. Any deposits or returns due before the confirmation letter arrives are still yours to handle. Do not assume the agent is covering a Form 941 deadline that falls during the processing window.

Revoking an Agent’s Appointment

To end the relationship, file a new Form 2678 and check the revocation box in Part 1. Revocations require only one signature. The employer can revoke without the agent’s consent, and the agent can revoke without the employer’s.⁵ Mail it to the same service center you would use for an appointment.

The IRS sends confirmation letters to both parties, and the revocation takes effect on the date shown in the letter. After that date, the IRS will no longer share your confidential tax information with the former agent. For agents of home care service recipients, only the agent receives the confirmation letter.⁵

What You Are On the Hook For

Section 3504 of the Internal Revenue Code makes both parties independently subject to all provisions of law, including penalties, that apply to an employer.⁹ If your agent fails to deposit taxes on time, the IRS assesses a failure-to-deposit penalty that starts at 2% for deposits one to five days late and rises to 15% for amounts still unpaid more than ten days after the first IRS notice demanding payment.¹⁰

Willful failure to collect and pay over employment taxes can also trigger the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty under 26 U.S.C. § 6672, which equals the full amount of the unpaid tax and can be assessed personally against officers, agents, or anyone with authority over the funds.¹¹

If your agent causes a failure, you may qualify for penalty relief on reasonable cause grounds, but only if you can show you acted responsibly before and after the problem: requesting extensions when possible, taking steps to prevent foreseeable trouble, and correcting the failure as quickly as you could.¹² Pointing at the agent is not enough. The IRS expects you to have been watching.

When Form 2678 Is Not the Right Form

Form 2678 is one of several IRS authorization forms, and it is easy to pick the wrong one.

Form 8655 authorizes a reporting agent to prepare and file returns for each client under that client’s own EIN. The employer alone stays liable for timely filing and payment. The reporting agent takes on no tax liability.² If you want a payroll company to file your returns without sharing legal responsibility for the taxes, Form 8655 is the correct form, not Form 2678.

Form 2848 is a power of attorney. It authorizes a qualified representative to act on your behalf before the IRS in tax matters such as audits and settlement negotiations. It does not authorize anyone to file employment tax returns or make deposits.¹³ If you later need someone to represent you in a dispute about employment taxes the Form 2678 agent already filed, that is a separate filing.

1
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 2678, Employer/Payer Appointment of Agent
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Internal Revenue Service. Third Party Arrangement Chart
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Government Publishing Office. 26 CFR 31.3504-1 – Designation of Agent by Application
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Internal Revenue Service. IRS Form 2678 – Employer/Payer Appointment of Agent
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2678
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Internal Revenue Service. Corrected Mailing Addresses for Form 2678
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Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Your Taxes for Form 2678
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2678 (Rev. December 2024)
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 3504 – Acts to Be Performed by Agents
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Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Deposit Penalty
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6672 – Failure to Collect and Pay Over Tax, or Attempt to Evade or Defeat Tax
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Internal Revenue Service. Penalty Relief for Reasonable Cause
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative