IRS Issues Statement Regarding CAF Processing Times
The IRS Wage & Investment Division recently apologized for processing delays and stated they are currently working to reduce their Centralized Authorization File (CAF) inventory. The IRS has been working to streamline and improve CAF operations, but one of the most common issues leading to longer processing times is the filing of duplicate authorization forms.
The IRS now has a universal queue for all submissions so that staff can more efficiently process first-in, first-out forms. This means that duplicate mailing, duplicate uploading or faxing the same authorization form to more than one CAF unit results in additional work and significantly increases processing time as personnel identify and remove the duplicates.
The IRS recommends practitioners consider submitting Forms 2848 and 8821 online to save time by getting into the universal queue faster than faxing or mailing, but to submit a taxpayer’s authorization online only once. Duplicate online submissions create the same issues as faxing the same form multiple times.