IRS expands Tax Pro Account to allow payments on behalf of business clients

Authorized tax professionals can now make certain payments on behalf of business clients through the Tax Pro Account, an expansion of the online service’s functionality that allows practitioners to complete more routine client tasks in one place, the IRS said Friday.

Previously, tax professionals could use the Tax Pro Account to view business clients’ balances and payment activity, but they could not submit payments on clients’ behalf. Tax professionals already could make payments and create payment plans for individual taxpayers through the Tax Pro Account.

The new feature extends payment capabilities to business clients for several common tax-related transactions, including:

• Full or partial balances due;
• Amended returns;
• Proposed tax assessments; and
• Federal tax deposits.

Tax professionals must have the appropriate authorization for the client and the tax matters involved to use the feature.

The new payment capability is the latest in a series of IRS expansions to the Tax Pro Account. Earlier this year, the IRS added business-level Centralized Authorization File (CAF) management tools that allow accounting firms and other tax professional organizations to manage authorizations and view client information online.

The Tax Pro Account, launched in July 2021, is the IRS’s secure online portal for tax professionals. The service allows practitioners to manage authorization relationships with taxpayers, link or request individual and business CAF numbers, and view information such as balances due and payment activity.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Martha Waggoner at Martha.Waggoner@aicpa-cima.com.