Florida Form DR-835, the Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, lets you authorize an attorney, CPA, enrolled agent, or other qualified person to handle Florida tax matters with the Department of Revenue on your behalf. You can download the current version from the Department’s forms library. Once it’s signed by you and your representative and sent in, that person can receive your confidential tax information, talk to Department staff, and — if you check the right boxes — sign documents or receive refund warrants for the tax matters you list.
Who Can Act as Your Representative
Before filling anything in, confirm the person you want to appoint fits one of the categories the form recognizes in its Section 8 declaration:
- Attorney in good standing with the bar of the highest court of their jurisdiction
- Certified Public Accountant licensed in their jurisdiction
- Enrolled Agent under Treasury Department Circular No. 230
- Former Department of Revenue employee, who cannot represent you on any matter they personally worked on while at the Department
- Reemployment Tax Agent, authorized specifically for reemployment tax matters
- Other Qualified Representative, a catch-all for people who don’t fit the above but are otherwise qualified
If the person handling your tax matter is already a corporate officer, trustee, executor, or authorized employee of the taxpayer, they can generally interact with the Department without a DR-835 on file.
Filling Out the Form
Section 1: Taxpayer Information
Enter your full legal name (or business name), current mailing address, and federal identification number — your SSN if you’re an individual, or your FEIN if the taxpayer is a business. If your business is registered with the Department, add the Florida-specific numbers the form asks for: Business Partner Number, Sales Tax Number, and Reemployment Tax Account Number are the most common. Providing these keeps the Department from having to guess which account the authorization belongs to, especially when a business holds multiple registrations.
Section 2: Your Representative
Give the representative’s full legal name, firm or company name, phone number, and mailing address. You can list more than one representative on the same form. If your representative has a Centralized Authorization File (CAF) number from the IRS, include it; it isn’t required in Florida, but it helps the Department verify their credentials. A single transposed digit in an ID field is one of the fastest ways to have the form returned, so check every number twice.
Section 3: Tax Types and Periods
This section defines exactly what your representative can touch. Pick from the tax categories the form lists and pair each with the years or filing periods covered:
- Sales and Use Tax
- Corporate Income Tax
- Communications Services Tax
- Insurance Premium Tax
- Reemployment Tax (formerly Unemployment Tax)
Be precise with the periods. A representative authorized for 2024 cannot access 2023 records or negotiate a 2025 liability. The form allows an “all periods” designation, but narrowing the scope to the periods you actually need help with keeps older account information private.
Section 4: Scope of Authority
By default, a completed DR-835 gives your representative broad authority for the matters listed in Section 3. The form’s language authorizes them to “receive and inspect confidential tax information and to perform any and all acts” you could perform yourself for those matters, including signing agreements, consents, and other documents.1Florida Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative
If you want a representative to receive refund warrants (the state’s version of a refund check), write that person’s name and check the corresponding box on the separate line provided. This authorizes them to receive the warrant only, not to endorse or cash it. Leaving the optional authorizations blank limits the representative to viewing account information and communicating with staff — enough for routine questions, but not enough if you need someone to sign a settlement or handle refund paperwork while you’re unavailable.
Signing and Submitting
Both signatures are required. You sign Part I with your full signature and date. If the taxpayer is a business entity, the person signing must also print their title (officer, partner, and so on). Your representative signs Part II under the declaration of professional status. No notary or witness is needed.
The Department accepts the form by mail or fax. There is no online upload; the eServices system handles filings and payments but not authorization forms.
- Mail, general tax matters: Florida Department of Revenue, PO Box 6440, Tallahassee, FL 32314-64401Florida Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative
- Mail, reemployment tax agent matters: Florida Department of Revenue, Account Management, PO Box 6510, Tallahassee, FL 32314-65102Florida Department of Revenue. Reemployment Tax Agents
- Fax, general tax matters: 850-922-5088
- Fax, audit-related matters: 850-922-0865
Reemployment tax authorizations go to the Account Management PO Box, not the general one. If your representative is helping with an active audit, fax the audit number so the form reaches the examiner’s team directly.
Revoking or Replacing an Earlier Authorization
Filing a new DR-835 does not automatically cancel earlier powers of attorney, even when the new form covers the same tax types and periods. The most recent authorization takes precedence in practice, but the older one technically stays active unless you revoke it.1Florida Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative
To revoke, check the box in Section 7 of the new form and attach a copy of the prior power of attorney you want canceled. Skip this step and your former representative may still have access to your confidential tax information for whatever was on their original form. This is the detail people most often miss when switching tax professionals.
The form has no automatic expiration. An authorization stays in force until you revoke it or file a new form that supersedes it for the same matters.
After You File
Once the Department processes the form, it updates your account profile, and your representative can begin contacting staff and accessing records for the tax types and periods you listed. Confirmation usually shows up as an account notation rather than a separate letter. Processing time isn’t published.
Keep a signed copy. If the authorization hasn’t posted to your account yet, your representative can present the executed form directly to a Department employee; the administrative rule specifically allows this.3Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code Rule 12-22.005 – Disclosure Procedures Florida tax return and account information is confidential and exempt from public records requests, so the Department will not release anything until the authorization is confirmed on file or the signed form is presented in person.4The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 213.053 – Confidentiality and Information Sharing