On its website, the IRS has said that recording information about third parties appointed under a power of attorney into its Centralized Authorization File (CAF) is currently taking about 15 business days, rather than five business days, due to COVID-19.
Background.
IRS has established a CAF into which information regarding the authority of persons appointed under a power of attorney is recorded. (Reg § 601.506(d)) Recording the information into CAF is sometimes referred to as a “third-party authorization.”
IRS previously said that it will process third-party authorizations within five business days. (IRM 21.3.7.1.4 (9/13/2017))
Update.
The IRS reports that, due to site closures relating to COVID-19, it is currently exceeding its five-business day target for approval. Its current time frame for third-party authorization is approximately 15 business days.
The IRS says that taxpayers should consider the additional time and plan accordingly. It requests that taxpayers do not submit duplicate authorizations as duplicate filings will only cause further delays.
To continue your research on CAF, see FTC 2d/FIN ¶T-1167.
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