Online POA Processing

After jumping through many, many hoops to get my credentials to match what is currently on file at CAF, I can finally try out the new realtime method approving POAs as soon as my clients log in and sign. I made it through all 5 steps until clicking submit, when I was greeted with this message:

System Error
Sorry, there is a problem with the system. To submit your request, please try again later.

Just wondering if anyone else has encountered this, and how long the "problem" has existed. Today is the first day I've even been able to get past Step 1 of entering my own credentials, so for all I know this error message is weeks old.

In case anyone is wondering, the POAs I uploaded using the other online submission method in the first week of January have still not hit the system. The woman on the practitioner hotline today could not even offer an estimate of when they would be processed. As for the old old-fashioned way, I obtained all signatures via docusign, and traditional fax method still only permits a wet ink signature. Le sigh.

https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/ne ... t-another/

I need a POA is to SEE the taxpayer's account before I can do anything. Once I know what is going on, resolving the issue becomes a real possibility and may not require my authority. I can always write a letter over the taxpayer's signature instead of my own.

So if my clients had an IRS online account, then I could get them to pull a transcript. But since my clients MOSTLY do not have an IRS online account - or want one, or know how to set it up, etc. - using the online TAX PRO submission for a POA is a useless "improvement" for me because it requires that the taxpayer already have an IRS online account.

The TaxPro Account does not handle business returns, so again – not helpful to me.

I tried to use the online portal a couple of times when it first came out, but it was a pain in the butt. I can fax it to the IRS number in a lot LESS time than it took for me to use the portal, and it doesn’t seem to gain me anything.

Submissions through the online portal are processed in the same manner as mail and fax submissions.

What do others have to say?

Super informative read - thank you. To clarify I'm not submitting duplicates, but that is an interesting point re: calling the IRS. I wonder if the taxpayer advocate sees a difference between clogging up the phone lines to request a status update vs. clogging up the phone lines to request a transcript that I should be able to pull online myself.

Regardless, here's my takeaway - the new Tax Pro system is great assuming 1) it's actually up and running and 2) clients are sophisticated enough to have their own accounts with the IRS and can easily navigate through them. The ability to use electronic signatures for completing 2848s is great in theory, especially given pandemic restrictions, but if I am trying to get anything done in any sort of timely manner it's better to just obtain original signatures since I'll need to fax copies directly to a representative while the submitted POAs are sitting in the CAF backlog.

What do others have to say?

From other CPAs/EAs with whom I’ve communicated, uploading a pdf of the 2848 results (i.e., being posted to CAF) in about the same processing time as faxing. Getting the TP’s digital signature from the 2848 sent to their personal account has yielded results in about 2-3 days.