Michigan Department of Treasury finalizes the recognition of Power of Attorney

enduring-power-of-attorney-590x345Dating back to 2013, the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) has worked tirelessly to clarify the rights of Authorized Representatives through Power of Attorney (POA) in the State of Michigan, starting with the filing of an Amicus brief in Fradco, Inc v. Department of Treasury. Since that time, POA was not recognized in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The MICPA engaged in three months of workgroups with the Department of Treasury to clarify the recognition of POA. The success of this workgroup resulted in a new, simplified POA form; training for Treasury staff on the recognition of POA and a video for practitioners developed by Treasury.

The POA training will promote a department-wide point of view regarding the POA form. The idea is to have a seamless approach to POA information so that a taxpayer does not have to fill out several POA forms where only one might be needed. The new POA form will be recognized as of November 2, 2015.

This achievement is the result of a more customer friendly approach by the Department of Treasury combined with the steadfast dedication of multiple MICPA members.

For more information on the changes to POA, please email Shane Barry in the MICPA Government Relations department at [email protected] or call 248.267.3710.