Power of Attorney for a Power of Attorney?

[jimenright]

I have a client who holds a power of attorney for his mother who is not competent. His mother is also a client of mine. I am anticipating representing the mother on a tax matter with the IRS. Do I submit a 2848 for the mother and have the son sign it or do I need a separate 2848 for the both of them with the son signing both of them?

[Greenbriar]

If mother is not competent

If Mom is legally not competent then I don't think she is capable of giving you a power of attorney but that's a legal issue that you could take up with an attorney. My own opinion is the POA she executed for her son, assuming while she was competent, should suffice for you to represent her.

[taxea]

Have son file F56 and get a power of attorney from him for the representation. Get a copy of the one he has from mom for your file.

[jimenright]

Form 56

Filing Form 56 makes sense -- thank you.

[taxmandan]

Plus, make sure that the POA the son has specifies it covers tax matters, a general durable power of attorney may not satisfy theIRS rules and can be rejected. Just went through this with a fiduciary who had only a generic POA. Below is the relevant part of the IRM that theIRS uses to reject a general POA:

IRM 4.11.55.1.7.3
(01-15-2005)
Non-IRS POAs

The IRS will accept a non-IRS POA. A completed transmittal
Form 2848 must be attached in order for the POA to be processed to
the Centralized Authorization File (CAF) system. If a non-IRS document is
used, it must contain the following information:

[snip]

I. A clear expression of the taxpayers intent concerning the scope of authority
granted to the representative.

J. The taxpayers signature and date.