Form 8879 and POA

[Jesse]

Can the form 8879 be signed with a Power of Attny or must the form 8453 be used w/ a copy of the POA mailed to IRS after acceptance?

[ChEAr$]

Poa

will cover your bases. Just retain a copy for your files and use form 8879.

[PaulF]

Does the Power of Attorney specifically say that tax returns can be signed? The IRS wants to see this language stated. I recently had a client who has POA for her sister because she is in prison. I prepared the sister's tax return from information provided by my client and my client wanted to sign the 8879. The POA did not specifically state that she could sign a tax return, so I did not allow her to sign the 8879 and had her mail the return to her sister's attorney so he could get it to her to examine. The sister can sign off on the return herself and get the 8879 back to me at her convenience.

[Jesse]

Yes it specifically states that Mom can sign income tax returns for 2006 - son is in the service. I couldn't remember if you could sign with a PIN or if the form 8453 had to be used w/ the POA attached.