Florida Department of Revenue Power of Attorney: Form DR-835 Instructions

Florida Form DR-835, the Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, is the two-page form you file with the Florida Department of Revenue (FDOR) to let an attorney, CPA, or enrolled agent see your confidential tax information and act on your behalf in matters like audits, protests, refund claims, and collections.¹ Florida treats tax return data as confidential and exempt from public records, so until a valid DR-835 is on file, the department will not discuss your account with anyone but you.²

Who You Can Appoint

The Declaration of Representative on page two limits who can sign, and each representative you list must sign individually.¹ Eligible categories are:

An attorney in good standing with the bar of the highest court in their jurisdiction.
A certified public accountant licensed to practice in their jurisdiction.
An enrolled agent enrolled to practice before the IRS.

By signing, the representative certifies they are familiar with the standards of conduct in Florida Administrative Code Rules 12-6.006 and 28-106.107.¹

Section 1: Your Taxpayer Information

Gather these before you start:

Your full legal name and address. For a business, use the name as registered with the state.
Your federal ID number: SSN for individuals, FEIN for businesses.
Your Florida tax registration number. This may be your sales tax number, reemployment tax account number, or business partner number. Leave it blank and the FDOR may not be able to process the form.

If you hold multiple Florida tax accounts, make sure the numbers you list match the tax types you authorize in Section 3.¹

Section 2: Your Representative’s Information

List each representative separately with their full name, firm name if applicable, mailing address, phone, fax, and email. Appointing more than one? Each person must appear in Section 2 and sign page two.¹

Section 3: The Tax Matters You’re Authorizing

This is where most mistakes happen. Section 3 has three columns, and all three need enough detail that the FDOR can see exactly what your representative is cleared to handle.

Type of tax. List each one separately: sales tax, corporate income tax, fuel tax, and so on.
Years or periods. Write the specific years or quarters covered.
Tax matters. Name the activity: audit, protest, refund claim, collection matter.

Vague entries risk the form being returned, or your representative being turned away when they try to act on your behalf.¹

Within whatever scope you define, the authority you grant is broad. Unless you write in a limit, the representative can sign agreements, waive assessment restrictions, consent to extensions of the statutory period for assessment or refund claims, and enter into closing agreements under Florida Statute 213.21.¹ A closing agreement is a binding settlement of your tax liability; once signed by the FDOR’s executive director, neither side can reopen it except for fraud.³ Treat Section 3 with that in mind.

Section 4: Continuing Reemployment Tax Agent

Section 4 is only for one specific setup: appointing someone to handle your reemployment tax account on an ongoing basis. If that is what you want, fill out Section 4 and leave Section 3 alone for this purpose.¹ You pick which type of mail the agent receives:

Primary mail: all reemployment tax documents, including rate notices, quarterly reports, benefit information, and claims correspondence.
Reporting mail: the Employer’s Quarterly Report (Form RT-6), certification documents, and reporting-related correspondence.
Rate mail: tax rate notices and rate correspondence.
Claims mail: notices of benefits paid and benefit-related discussions.

For a one-time reemployment tax matter such as contesting a rate or handling an audit, skip Section 4 and use Section 3 to describe the specific matter. A continuing reemployment agent who also needs to handle a one-off audit or protest needs a separate DR-835 for that work.¹

Signing the Form

An unsigned or undated DR-835 will be returned unprocessed.¹

Individuals sign and date Section 8 on page one. For a business, the signer must be someone legally authorized to bind the entity: a corporate officer, partner, managing member, trustee, or similar role. That person declares under penalties of perjury that they have authority to execute the form on behalf of the taxpayer.¹

If the taxpayer is deceased or incapacitated, a court-appointed executor, administrator, or guardian can sign. Keep the court appointment paperwork handy in case the FDOR asks for proof of your authority.

Where to Submit the Form

The FDOR accepts mailed originals, photocopies, and faxed copies. It does not accept email submissions, and it will not accept other types of powers of attorney in place of the DR-835.¹

Where to send it depends on what the form is for:

For a specific tax matter such as an audit or protest, mail or fax the form directly to the FDOR office or employee handling your case. You can include it with any related correspondence.
For a continuing reemployment tax agent under Section 4, mail to Florida Department of Revenue, P.O. Box 6510, Tallahassee, FL 32314-6510, or fax to 850-488-5997.

There is no electronic submission option. Processing can take several weeks, so send the form well before any deadline. If your representative needs to act on a matter already underway, routing the form directly to the FDOR employee working the case tends to move things faster.

Replacing or Revoking a Prior Power of Attorney

Filing a new DR-835 does not cancel an old one on its own, even when the new form covers the same tax types and periods. Both stay active unless you take an extra step.¹

To revoke a prior POA while filing a new one, check the revocation box in Section 7 of the new DR-835 and attach a copy of the old power of attorney you want to cancel. Miss either step and the old authorization stays on file, and the prior representative keeps access to your confidential tax information.¹

You can also revoke a POA without filing a new one. Send the FDOR a signed, dated written statement revoking the representative’s authority. Direct it to the FDOR office handling your specific tax matter, or to the Central Records office if nothing is pending. The revocation takes effect when the department receives it.

1
Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Department of Revenue DR-835 – Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative
2
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 213.053 – Confidentiality and Information Sharing
3
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 213.21 – Informal Conferences, Compromises