Which IRS form should I use for elderly parent - Form 8821 or 2848? Need advice!

Based on your situation, I'd recommend Form 2848 (Power of Attorney) rather than Form 8821. Here's why: Form 8821 only lets you receive and review information, but you can't act on your mother's behalf or negotiate with the IRS. With Form 2848, you can fully represent her, which means you can negotiate payment plans, request penalty abatements, and handle all communications with the IRS. Given that your mom has language barriers, tech difficulties, and lives far away, having the ability to speak directly with the IRS about her case will be incredibly helpful. The 2848 would allow you to call the IRS, discuss options, and potentially set up a more affordable payment plan without requiring her involvement in those conversations. For your mom to sign the 2848, you don't need any fancy technology - just print the form, mail it to her with sticky notes showing where to sign, include a return envelope, and have her mail it back to you. Then you can submit it to the IRS.

I went through something similar with my father last year and found https://taxr.ai incredibly helpful. After struggling to piece together his tax situation from the limited documents he had, I uploaded what we had to taxr.ai and it gave us a complete analysis of his tax history and options for resolving his IRS debt. The service was perfect for our situation because it didn't require my dad to navigate any complicated technology - I just needed the documents he did have. Their analysis showed us that he qualified for Currently Not Collectible status due to his limited income, which we didn't know was an option before. They also found some errors in previous filings that reduced what he owed. They can analyze IRS notices, past returns, and other documents to give you a clear picture of what's actually happening with your mom's taxes, which sounds exactly like what you need before deciding how to proceed.

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after asking about it! My mom had a stack of IRS notices that made no sense to me, and I uploaded them along with her last tax return. Within a day I got a complete breakdown explaining exactly what had happened, where the penalties came from, and several options for resolving it. They spotted that she likely qualifies for First Time Penalty Abatement which could reduce the amount by about $4k, and they explained exactly how the installment plan should be structured based on her income. The analysis was super clear without all the IRS jargon. Now I feel much more confident about filing the 2848 and actually knowing what I'm doing. Definitely recommend looking into this before calling the IRS!

Your mom's situation sounds like exactly what I went through with my aunt. After trying to call the IRS for weeks and never getting through, I finally used https://claimyr.com and it was a game-changer. Their service held my place in the IRS phone queue and called me when an agent was about to answer. I had been calling the IRS for literally months trying to straighten out my aunt's payment issues (she was in a similar situation with unaffordable payments), but kept hitting that "due to high call volume" message. With Claimyr, I got through to an actual IRS agent in about 40 minutes instead of spending hours on hold or getting disconnected. They also have a video demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c if you're curious. Once I got through to the IRS, I was able to explain her hardship situation and get the payment reduced significantly. Definitely worth considering once you have the 2848 in place.

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I was still desperate to talk to the IRS about my penalty issue, so I decided to try it anyway. I had been calling for THREE WEEKS trying to get through about a penalty that was incorrectly applied to my account. Using Claimyr, I got connected to an IRS agent in about 35 minutes while I was making dinner - didn't have to sit around listening to that awful hold music. The agent was able to remove the $2,100 penalty on the spot. Honestly, I can't believe how much time I wasted trying to call them directly. If you're filing that 2848 for your mom, this is definitely the way to go once you need to actually discuss her case with someone. Completely changed my mind about this service.

With your mom's situation, definitely consider requesting Currently Not Collectible (CNC) status once you have the 2848. My mother-in-law was in almost the exact same situation - owed $32k and was being asked to pay $700/month which she couldn't afford on Social Security. After getting POA, I submitted Form 433-A with her financial information showing her income vs. necessary expenses. Because her income was just enough to cover basic living expenses, the IRS placed her account in CNC status. They still keep the balance on the books and interest continues to accrue, but they stop all collection actions. The 10-year statute of limitations on collecting the debt continues to run while in CNC, so if your mom is on fixed income and unlikely to have a significant financial change, much of this debt could eventually expire uncollected.

Have any of you had luck with the Taxpayer Advocate Service? My cousin was in a similar situation but much more severe. They really helped him, and it's totally free!

I've been through something very similar with my elderly father who also had significant tax debt and language barriers. Here are a few additional thoughts based on what worked for us: Definitely go with Form 2848 as others have suggested - the full power of attorney is essential when dealing with complex cases like this. When you fill it out, I'd recommend being very broad with the tax years (maybe 2010-2024) and tax matters you're requesting authority for. This gives you maximum flexibility to address any issues that come up. One thing that really helped us was getting a complete Account Transcript from the IRS once the 2848 was processed. This shows every transaction, payment, penalty, and interest charge on the account going back years. It helped us identify some penalties that shouldn't have been applied and gave us the full picture of what we were dealing with. Also, don't overlook the possibility of an Offer in Compromise if your mom truly can't pay the full amount and is unlikely to be able to in the future. Given her age, fixed income, and the size of the debt, she might qualify to settle for much less than the full amount owed. The key is getting that 2848 filed first so you can start gathering information and exploring all the options available to her.