Tax Law Insights

South Carolina requires submission of a Form SC2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, in order for an attorney, CPA, or enrolled agent to represent a taxpayer administratively before the South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR). This includes representation in examinations, audits, appeals, tax collection, and other administrative tax matters.

The Form SC2848 has important differences from its current IRS counterpart, including:

• In the Form SC2848 is the notification that "All Notices and Communications will be sent to the taxpayer only.", while the IRS practice is to send copies of all notices and communications regarding the taxpayer and the periods and taxes covered by the Form 2848 to both the taxpayer and the representative.
• The IRS now requires separate Forms 2848 for each spouse (Part I - "Caution: A separate Form 2848 should be completed for each taxpayer"), while SCDOR does not and a single Form SC2848 can be submitted for a married couple.
• The Form SC2848 generally has room to only identify up to three (3) representatives for a taxpayer, while the IRS Form 2848 now allows up to four (4) representatives.
• While both IRS and SC forms authorize attorneys, CPAs, enrolled agents, and certain others to qualify for representation, the IRS form is broader and adds additional potential representatives as well (e.g. "Student Attorney" or "accounting student" working in a LITC or STCP).