An authorized representative is a person you formally designate to act on your behalf with a specific agency or institution on a specific matter. The designation is narrower than most people assume: it typically covers one case (a tax dispute, a disability claim, a Medicare appeal) rather than your broader financial or legal life, and the powers your representative holds are only those the appointment form grants. Once the paperwork is processed, the agency will communicate with your representative; file the wrong form, and the person you named may be able to view your records but do nothing else.
How It Differs From a Power of Attorney
People often use “authorized representative” and “power of attorney” interchangeably, but the two are not the same. A durable power of attorney is a broad legal instrument covering finances, property, and legal affairs across institutions, and it typically survives your incapacity. An authorized representative designation is usually tied to one agency and one matter. Your representative for a Social Security disability claim has no authority over your taxes, your bank accounts, or your medical decisions. The scope is whatever the appointment form says it is.
The IRS illustrates the distinction with two separate forms. Form 2848 is a true power of attorney: it lets your representative sign documents, negotiate with the IRS, and advocate your position on specific tax matters.1Internal Revenue Service. About Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative Form 8821 only authorizes someone to view and receive your tax information. It does not let the designee speak on your behalf, advocate your position, sign anything, or represent you in any other way before the IRS.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8821 Filing Form 8821 when you need Form 2848 is a common mistake and can stall a case for weeks.
What an Authorized Representative Can Do
The specific powers depend on the agency and the form, but authorized representatives generally handle a defined set of tasks on your behalf. These commonly include signing and submitting applications, providing supporting documents, receiving confidential notices and determination letters, and communicating directly with agency staff about your case. In many contexts, your representative can also present evidence at administrative hearings, file appeals, and request reconsideration of unfavorable decisions.3U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Your Right to Representation
The authority stops at the boundaries drawn on the appointment form. A representative handling your Social Security disability claim cannot step over to manage your Medicare appeal unless you file a separate designation for that matter. And across virtually all agencies, the designation does not reach major personal decisions like medical treatment choices, estate planning, or broad legal strategy. Those require different legal instruments.
The Main Federal Appointment Forms
Each federal agency uses its own form, and the form determines what your representative can actually do.
IRS: Form 2848 and Form 8821
Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, is what you file when you want someone to actively represent you before the IRS. Your representative can call the IRS on your behalf, negotiate settlements, sign agreements, and handle correspondence for the specific tax matters and periods listed on the form.1Internal Revenue Service. About Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative It requires your signature, your representative’s signature, their designation (attorney, CPA, enrolled agent, and so on), and their identification number.
Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization, is strictly for information access. You file this when you want someone, like an accountant preparing your returns, to pull your transcripts or receive copies of notices. The designee can inspect and receive your confidential tax information for the types of tax and periods you specify, but cannot advocate for you, sign documents, or represent you in any capacity.4Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8821, Tax Information Authorization Filing a Form 2848 does not revoke an existing Form 8821, and vice versa. They operate independently.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2848
Both forms can be submitted through the IRS Tax Pro Account, which supports all-digital submission with electronic signatures. That option is currently limited to individual taxpayers with an IRS online account and to certain tax matters and periods.6Internal Revenue Service. Submit Power of Attorney and Tax Information Authorizations Otherwise, you mail or fax the completed form.
Social Security: Form SSA-1696
To appoint someone to handle a Social Security claim, you use Form SSA-1696, Appointment of Representative. Your representative can be an attorney or a non-attorney, but must comply with SSA’s published rules of conduct. The form can be completed and submitted electronically through SSA’s online portal, with both parties signing digitally, or printed and mailed, faxed, or hand-delivered to your local Social Security office.7Social Security Administration. Form SSA-1696 Appointment of Representative
Medicare: Form CMS-1696
For Medicare claims, appeals, and grievances, you appoint a representative on Form CMS-1696. Once appointed, your representative becomes your main point of contact with the agency and has authority to make requests, present evidence, receive all communications, and access your personal medical information. The appointment is valid for one year from the date both parties sign the form, and remains effective for the duration of the specific claim or appeal it was filed for, even beyond that one-year window.8Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Appointment of Representative
Health Insurance Marketplace appeals use a different form. For those, you complete the “Appoint an Authorized Representative for My Appeal” form and mail or fax it to the Marketplace.9HealthCare.gov. Filling Out the Appoint an Authorized Representative for My Appeal Form Electronically
Who Can Serve
The baseline requirements are straightforward: at least 18 years old, mentally competent to understand the responsibilities, and free of any conflict of interest that would compromise your welfare. Beyond that, requirements turn on the agency.
The IRS follows Circular 230. Full representation rights belong to attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled retirement plan agents, and enrolled actuaries.10Internal Revenue Service. Rules Governing Practice Before the IRS These professionals include their designation and identification number on Form 2848.
Some people can represent you based on their relationship to you, even without professional credentials. Immediate family members (spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, or step-relatives) can represent you on a completed Form 2848. Corporate officers can represent their corporation, general partners can represent their partnership, and full-time employees can represent their employer.10Internal Revenue Service. Rules Governing Practice Before the IRS
Someone otherwise qualified can still be barred. For Medicare matters, anyone who has been suspended or prohibited from practice before the Department of Health and Human Services, or who has a conflict of interest, cannot serve.8Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Appointment of Representative
You Still Bear Legal Responsibility
This is the point most people miss. Appointing a representative does not transfer your legal obligations to them. You remain personally responsible for your tax filings, your benefit applications, and the accuracy of information submitted on your behalf. If your representative files a return late or submits incorrect information to SSA, the agency generally looks to you, not your representative, when assessing penalties or overpayments. The IRS has made clear that a taxpayer who grants a power of attorney retains the legal duty to file, and the representative’s failure does not automatically establish reasonable cause for the taxpayer.
So appointing someone is not a “set it and forget it” step. Stay involved enough to know what is being filed, which deadlines are approaching, and whether any agency communication needs your personal attention.
How the Authorization Ends
You can revoke your representative’s authority at any time. The procedure varies by agency, but the principle is the same everywhere: revocation has to be in writing, and the agency has to receive it before it takes effect. Until that happens, your former representative still has access to your information and can still act on your behalf. Telling the representative verbally is not enough.
At the IRS, write “REVOKE” across the top of the first page of the previously filed Form 2848, sign and date below the annotation, and mail or fax a copy to the IRS. If you no longer have a copy of the original, send a signed and dated statement identifying the representative, the matters and tax periods covered, and stating that the authority is revoked. Writing “revoke all years/periods” covers everything.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2848 For Social Security, sign and date a written revocation and submit it in person, by mail, or by fax; it takes effect on the date SSA receives the signed document.11Social Security Administration. Instructions for Completing Form SSA-1696-SUP1
Some events end the authority automatically. Death of the principal is the most significant: under GAO regulations, notification of the principal’s death during a pending matter automatically revokes the representative’s authority,12eCFR. 4 CFR 11.5 Revocation of Authority to Represent and the same principle applies broadly across agencies. At the IRS, filing a new Form 2848 for the same tax matter and period generally revokes an earlier Form 2848 recorded on the Centralized Authorization File (CAF) for that same matter.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2848 For Medicare, a CMS-1696 appointment expires one year after both parties signed, unless the claim or appeal it was filed for is still pending; a routine claim that resolves quickly will lapse on its own.8Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Appointment of Representative