IRS Form 8821: Tax Information Authorization, Filing, and Revocation

IRS Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization, lets you name a third party who can view your confidential federal tax records without giving that person any authority to act on your behalf. Accountants, mortgage lenders, financial advisors, and family members are common appointees. Filing costs nothing, and the IRS typically processes the form within about seven business days.¹ Because the access is view-only, every decision about your tax account stays with you.

What Your Appointee Can and Cannot Do

An appointee named on Form 8821 can inspect or receive copies of your confidential tax information for the tax types and periods you list. That includes requesting transcripts, checking a balance due, reviewing lien information, or pulling details about a specific schedule. If you don’t narrow the access in column (d), the appointee sees everything within the tax types and years you authorized.²

The form stops there. Your appointee cannot advocate your position in a dispute, represent you at hearings, sign returns, negotiate closing agreements, or waive any deadlines tied to assessment or collection.² If you need someone who can actually speak for you, Form 8821 is the wrong document.

Form 8821 vs. Form 2848

The most common confusion is between these two authorizations. Form 8821 lets someone look at your records. Form 2848 (Power of Attorney) lets someone represent you before the IRS, which includes filing documents, corresponding on your behalf, and advocating at conferences and hearings.³

Eligibility differs, too. Anyone can be an appointee on Form 8821, including an individual, corporation, or partnership. Form 2848 is more restrictive: only individuals qualify, and they generally must be an attorney, CPA, enrolled agent, or another recognized practitioner.⁴

If a mortgage lender just needs to verify income, Form 8821 fits. If you’re facing an audit and want your CPA to handle it, use Form 2848. Filing the wrong one wastes time or gives up more control than you intended.

Completing the Form

Your Information

Enter your full legal name, current mailing address, and taxpayer identification number. Use your Social Security Number as an individual and your Employer Identification Number for a business. If you filed jointly and want the appointee to see the joint return data, both spouses have to sign.² Errors here can cause the IRS to reject the form.

Appointee Information

Enter the appointee’s name, address, phone, and fax. If the appointee already has a Centralized Authorization File (CAF) number from a prior authorization, include it. First-time appointees leave this field blank; the IRS assigns a nine-digit CAF number after processing and mails a letter to the appointee with that number for future use.⁵ To name more than two appointees, check the appropriate box and attach a list.⁶

Tax Matters and Periods

This section controls the scope of access. You fill in the type of tax, the form number (1040 for individual income tax, 941 for quarterly employment tax, and so on), and the specific tax years or periods. The IRS rejects vague entries like “all years” or “all taxes.” Each line must name a concrete form and a defined period.²

Column (d) narrows access further. You can limit the appointee to a balance due, lien information, a specific schedule, or a particular liability. Leave column (d) blank and the appointee sees everything within the tax types and periods listed.²

You can list future tax years, but the CAF system only records them up to three years from December 31 of the year the IRS receives the form. Anything beyond that window won’t be tracked.²

Keeping Prior Authorizations Active

A new Form 8821 automatically revokes every prior tax information authorization on file unless you take a specific step to prevent it. To keep an existing authorization in place while adding a new one, check the box on line 5 and attach a copy of the authorization you want to retain.² Skip this step and your accountant could lose access the moment you authorize your lender.

Signature and Date

The IRS must receive the form within 120 days of the date you signed. Miss that window and it’s rejected. Corporate officers or business partners must include their title to show authority to release company information.²

Submitting Form 8821

There are three ways to file, all free.

Fax or Mail

The IRS routes paper submissions through CAF units based on where you live, with separate fax numbers and mailing addresses for eastern states (Memphis, TN), western states (Ogden, UT), and international filers or U.S. territories (Philadelphia, PA). Fax numbers can change without notice, so check the Form 8821 page on IRS.gov under “Recent Developments” before sending.⁷

Online Upload

Tax professionals can upload a completed Form 8821 through the IRS online submission tool. You sign in, answer a few questions, upload the form as a PDF, JPG, or GIF (15 MB limit), and get an email confirmation. If the form has attachments, combine everything into one file first. Don’t submit online if you’ve already faxed or mailed the same form. The IRS accepts electronic signatures on online submissions, including typed names on a signature block, scanned handwritten signatures, and signatures created with third-party software.⁶

Tax Pro Account

Tax professionals can skip paper entirely by using Tax Pro Account, which processes authorizations in real time. The professional submits a digital request, and the taxpayer approves it through their own IRS online account. This channel is currently limited to individual taxpayer authorizations; business entities still need a paper or uploaded form.⁸

Approving a new Tax Pro Account authorization for the same tax matters and periods automatically revokes any prior authorization on file for those items. To preserve a prior authorization, file a paper Form 8821 with the retention box checked and a copy of the earlier authorization attached.⁸

Processing Time

The IRS processes Form 8821 within about seven business days of receipt regardless of channel.¹ Tax Pro Account is the exception; it processes in real time once the taxpayer approves. The IRS doesn’t notify you when processing is complete, but online submitters can check status through the submission tool.⁶

How Long the Authorization Lasts

Form 8821 has no built-in expiration date. Once recorded, the authorization stays active until you revoke it or file a new Form 8821 that replaces it.² That open-ended duration matters. If you authorize a mortgage lender to see two years of returns for a loan application, that access continues long after the loan closes unless you take a step to end it.

Revoking an Authorization

You have two options for ending an authorization before filing a new one. The simplest is to write “REVOKE” across the top of a copy of the original Form 8821, add a current signature and date below the original signature line, and send it to the appropriate CAF unit.²

Without a copy of the original form, send a written notification to the same CAF unit. The notification needs your name, taxpayer identification number, and address; the name and address of each appointee being revoked; the specific tax matters and periods; and your signature and date. To end all access for a particular appointee, you can write “revoke all years/periods” rather than listing each one.²

Appointees can also withdraw on their own using the same notification process. For specific-use authorizations sent directly to a particular IRS office rather than the CAF unit, any revocation or withdrawal has to go to that same office.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Processing Status for Tax Forms
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8821
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Internal Revenue Service. Forms 2848 and 8821 for Tax-Advantaged Bonds
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Internal Revenue Service. Preparation of Forms 2848 and 8821 and Their Uses
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Internal Revenue Service. The Centralized Authorization File (CAF) – Authorization Rules
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Internal Revenue Service. Submit Forms 2848 and 8821 Online
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8821 (09/2021)
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Internal Revenue Service. Tax Pro Account