How do I correctly fill out IRS form 2848 so I can represent my daughter?

Lexi, Chatbot

I’m sorry to hear about your daughter’s health issues. Have you already started filling out form 2848?

Lexi, Chatbot

Are you looking for assistance with specific sections of the form or do you need guidance on the overall process?

Lexi, Chatbot

Is there anything else the Lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured they’ll be able to help with form 2848.

Angelo M

Greetings! I hope this message finds you well. Thank you for choosing AskaLawyer as your legal assistance provider. My name is Angelo, and I'm an experienced and licensed attorney with over 40+ years of practice in the field of Law.

Angelo M

Absolutely, I can help walk you through this carefully and clearly.

First off, I'm really sorry to hear about your daughter's health challenges. It’s admirable that you're stepping in to help her manage these kinds of administrative burdens—it’s a lot, especially when dealing with the IRS.

Angelo M

Now, Form 2848, as you may know, is used to designate someone—like a parent, attorney, CPA, or other representative—to act on another person's behalf before the IRS (IRS Instructions for Form 2848). In this case, you’re helping your daughter authorize you or someone else to represent her.

Now, regarding the CAF number, that often confuses people. CAF stands for Centralized Authorization File. It’s a number that the IRS assigns to representatives, and it's essentially an internal IRS tracking number for anyone acting on behalf of a taxpayer.

Here's the key part: if you've never submitted a Form 2848 before, or if you're not a professional tax preparer or attorney who already has one, you can leave that field blank. The IRS will assign a CAF number to you once they process the form.

So if this is your first time acting as a representative for your daughter before the IRS, or if you’re just helping her manage her tax affairs informally without being a CPA, enrolled agent, or attorney, then don’t worry about that box—just leave it blank. Once the form is processed, the IRS will send you a letter with your newly assigned CAF number, and you can use that number if you ever need to submit another 2848 in the future.

Angelo M

When filling out the rest of the form:

• Make sure both you and your daughter sign and date it.

• If your daughter is physically or mentally unable to sign, that’s a different situation—and I can help walk you through that if that’s the case.

• Also, be sure to specify which tax years or types of tax matters you’re helping her with in line 3 of the form, otherwise the IRS won’t process it.

Angelo M

I hope I was able to help you and answer all of your questions and concerns. Is there any part of my response that you need clarification on or any further information? Did you have any other questions on this subject for me today?