We ask for the information on this form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United States. Form 2848 is provided by the IRS for your convenience and its use is voluntary. If you choose to designate a representative to act on your behalf, under section 6109, you must disclose your SSN, ITIN, or EIN. The principal purpose of this disclosure is to secure proper identification of the taxpayer. We need this information to gain access to your tax information in our files and properly respond to any request. We may also disclose this information to Federal, state, or local agencies that investigate or respond to acts or threats of terrorism or participate in intelligence or counterintelligence activities concerning terrorism. If you do not disclose this information, the IRS may suspend processing of the power of attorney and may not be able to honor your power of attorney until you provide the number.

You are not required to provide the information requested on a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the administration of any Internal Revenue law. Disclosure of the information on this form may be made as provided in section 6103.

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary depending on individual circumstances. The estimated average time is: Recordkeeping, 19 min.; Learning about the law or the form, 28 min.; Preparing the form, 29 min.; Copying, assembling, and sending the form to the IRS, 34 min.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time estimates or suggestions for making this form simpler, we would be happy to hear from you. You can write to the Tax Forms Committee, Western Area Distribution Center, Rancho Cordova, CA 95743-0001. Do not send this form to this address. Instead, see Where To File on page 1.