How to Fill Out and Submit Form CDTFA-392: California Power of Attorney

Form CDTFA-392 is the one-page power of attorney that lets you authorize a CPA, attorney, enrolled agent, or any other person you choose to deal with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration for you. Once it’s on file, your representative can access your account information, talk to CDTFA staff, attend hearings, and handle the specific tax or fee matters you list. You can download the PDF from cdtfa.ca.gov or start the authorization through the agency’s online services portal.¹

Taxpayer Information at the Top of the Form

The first block identifies you so the CDTFA can match the authorization to the right account. You’ll enter:

Your legal name and business or corporation name as they appear on your CDTFA account.
Your Social Security Number, Federal Employer Identification Number, and California Secretary of State number(s), for every entity tied to the account you want covered.
Each CDTFA account or permit number the representative should be able to access. Authorization does not automatically extend to every account you hold — only the numbers written on the form.
Your mailing address, telephone, fax, and email.

The account and permit numbers are the field people most often get wrong. Miss one and your representative won’t be able to act on it, even if the rest of the form is perfect. Your numbers appear on past CDTFA correspondence and inside your online services account.¹

Who You’re Appointing

The next section names your representative. Enter their full name, firm name if any, street address, city, state, ZIP, email, telephone, and fax. You can appoint more than one representative on the same form.¹

The form itself doesn’t require your appointee to hold a law license, CPA certificate, or any other credential. If your matter involves an audit or an administrative hearing, picking someone who regularly handles CDTFA cases still makes a practical difference in how it goes.

Tax or Fee Programs and Periods Covered

The form has checkboxes for the two program categories the CDTFA administers: Sales and Use Taxes and Special Taxes. Check every category your representative needs. Under Special Taxes the agency handles many separate fee programs, so make sure the program description on the form matches the account you’re authorizing.¹

Next to each program, write the tax years or filing periods the authorization covers. Draw the window with some thought. If you’re heading into an audit whose scope may expand, a broader range spares you from filing a new form each time things shift. If you only want help with a single quarter, listing just that quarter keeps the representative’s access to what’s necessary.

General or Specific Authorization

You choose how much power your representative gets. General authorization lets them perform all acts on your behalf for the programs and periods you listed. Most taxpayers pick this when hiring a professional to handle an audit or dispute from beginning to end.

Specific authorization limits your representative to acts you check from a list. The five specific powers on the form are:¹

Confer with CDTFA staff, resolve assessments or deficiencies, and appear at meetings or hearings.
Receive — but not endorse or collect — refund checks for taxes, penalties, or interest.
Sign petitions, claims for refund, and amendments.
Sign consents that extend the time the CDTFA has to assess or determine taxes.
Delegate authority to another person or substitute a different representative.

Think twice about granting the power to extend statutory periods. That gives the CDTFA more time to complete an audit or issue a determination, and once the authorization is on file, your representative can sign the extension without checking with you first.

Prior Powers of Attorney

The form asks whether this new POA revokes all earlier ones on file with the CDTFA for the same matters and periods. Check “Yes” or “No.”¹

“Yes” ends the prior representative’s access to the listed accounts and periods once the new form is processed. “No” keeps existing representatives in place, but you have to identify the prior POA by listing the representative’s name, the date the earlier power was granted, and their address. Leaving those details blank when you check “No” creates confusion about who is authorized.

Expiration Date

By default, the CDTFA-392 stays in effect until you revoke it. The form states: “Unless limited, this power of attorney will remain in effect until the date the power of attorney is revoked.” To set a fixed end date, write it in the “Time Limit/Expiration Date” field.¹

An expiration date is useful for a defined engagement like a single audit cycle. For an ongoing relationship with a tax pro who handles your returns year after year, leaving the field blank is usually the more practical call.

Who Must Sign

The CDTFA returns the form as invalid if it isn’t signed by someone with legal authority to act for the taxpayer. Who that is depends on your entity:

Sole proprietors sign for themselves.
On joint accounts or joint returns, both spouses or registered domestic partners must sign for joint representation.
For a corporation, an authorized officer — typically the president, secretary, or treasurer — signs and certifies they have authority to execute the form for the corporation.
For a partnership, a general or limited partner signs.
For an LLC, a manager or member signs.
For a trust, estate, or guardianship, the trustee, executor, administrator, or guardian signs.

By signing, you certify under penalty of perjury that you have authority to grant the power of attorney. Notarization is not required.¹

Submitting the Form

You can submit on paper or through the online services portal. The two paths work differently.

By Mail or Fax

Mail the completed CDTFA-392 to the local CDTFA field office that handles your account. Office addresses are on the office locations page at cdtfa.ca.gov.² If you’re already under audit, faxing the form to the field office running the audit is faster than mailing. Keep a copy of whatever you send.

Through Online Services

Your representative can request POA status through the CDTFA online services portal:²

The representative creates or logs in to a profile at onlineservices.cdtfa.ca.gov.
They select “Request a Power of Attorney” under the “I Want To” section.
The system generates a notice, and the CDTFA mails a letter to you at your business address confirming the request.
You approve or deny the request online, by calling your local field office, or by calling the Customer Service Center at 1-800-400-7115 (TTY: 711).

The online route builds in an extra security step because you have to affirmatively approve the request. The tradeoff is waiting for the mailed notice before you can act.

What Happens After You Submit

Processing times depend on the method and the field office’s workload. For the online request process, the CDTFA says the related correspondence is mailed within seven to ten business days.² Paper submissions can take a similar window or longer once mail transit is added. You can check whether your representative’s access is active by logging into your online services account.

Once the authorization is processed, your representative can receive confidential account information, correspond with staff, and perform the acts you authorized. The CDTFA will also start sending copies of relevant notices to the representative’s address.

Revoking the Power of Attorney

You can revoke the POA any time. The easiest way is to file a new CDTFA-392 and check “Yes” on the question asking whether the new form revokes earlier POAs for the same matters and periods. If you don’t want to appoint anyone new and just want to end the current representative’s access, send a written revocation to the field office handling your account. Include your name, account numbers, the representative’s name, and a clear statement that you’re revoking their authority.¹

Tell your former representative directly too. Until the CDTFA processes the revocation, the agency may keep communicating with the person still listed on file. If you’re switching representatives mid-audit, time the revocation so there’s no gap in coverage.

Common Mistakes That Delay Processing

Most rejected or delayed forms fail for avoidable reasons:

The wrong person signs. An employee who isn’t an authorized officer signs for a corporation, or only one spouse signs a joint-account form. The CDTFA returns unsigned or improperly signed forms as invalid.¹
An account or permit number is missing, which means your representative can’t touch that account even if you meant them to.
The tax periods are blank. Without listed periods the CDTFA has nothing to authorize.
An outdated form version is used. The CDTFA updates its forms periodically, so download the current version from cdtfa.ca.gov before filling anything in.
The prior-POA question is left blank, leaving it unclear whether earlier representatives still have access.

1
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. CDTFA-392 Power of Attorney
2
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Tax Guide for Tax Practitioners – Getting Started