The IRS Business Tax Account: Who Can Use It and What It Shows

Business owners often try to see their company's IRS records through their personal online account and find nothing there. That is by design. The IRS keeps a separate Business Tax Account for businesses, with its own eligibility rules and its own roles. This guide summarizes what the IRS says about it as of its August 2026 page update.

Who can register

Access depends on the type of business and your role in it.

Sole proprietors. You can register as a sole proprietor if you have a Social Security number or ITIN, also have an employer identification number, and file Schedule C or Schedule F with Form 1040. The IRS notes that Business Tax Account is not yet available for limited liability companies that file as sole proprietors on Schedule C or Schedule F.

Partnerships that file Form 1065. Two roles:

• Individual partner, limited access. A partner with an SSN or ITIN who receives a Schedule K-1 from the partnership can register and see details for the tax years the partner has a K-1 on file.
• Designated Official, full access. Must be a general partner or a managing partner of the LLC.

S corporations that file Form 1120-S. Two roles:

• Individual shareholder, limited access, for shareholders with an SSN or ITIN who receive a Schedule K-1.
• Designated Official, full access. The IRS says the Designated Official must be all of these: an officer (president, vice president, CEO, CFO, COO, secretary or treasurer) or managing member of the entity; a current employee who received a W-2 for the most recent tax filing year; and authorized to legally bind the business.

C corporations that file Form 1120. A Designated Official with the same three requirements can register for full access.

Single-member LLCs that file Form 1120-S or Form 1065 have an account available.

What full access shows

For sole proprietors and Designated Officials, the IRS lists:

• Business profile: view business information and manage access by adding Designated Users.
• Account balance: total owed and details by year.
• Payments: make federal tax deposits, balance due payments, advance payments and more, and view payment history.
• Tax records: view tax transcripts, the EIN verification letter, and tax compliance reports.
• Notices and letters: read IRS notices and letters online.
• Authorizations: accept or reject third-party requests for your tax transcript submitted through the Income Verification Express Service, or IVES.

A useful new feature. The IRS says you can now download an EIN verification notice from your account under Tax Records. The new CP575 notice is a substitute for the CP575A through J notice series and Letter 147C, and can be used to confirm your EIN. Anyone who has tried to get a replacement EIN letter by phone will appreciate that.

What limited access shows

Partners and shareholders with limited access see a narrower view for the years they have a K-1 on file: limited business profile information, account balance, balance due payments and payment history, and tax transcripts.

Designated Users: sharing access inside the business

The Designated Official, or the sole proprietor, can add people as Designated Users. That is how an owner gives an internal employee, such as a controller, access through the IRS's own system rather than by sharing a password.

Never share your sign-in. The IRS account is tied to your identity. If someone else needs access, use the roles the IRS built for that purpose.

Outside professionals use authorizations, not your account

Your outside accountant, bookkeeper or attorney should not be a Designated User of your account. The right tools for outside professionals are:

• Form 8821, which lets a person or firm inspect and receive your business's tax information, for monitoring deposits or pulling transcripts.
• Form 2848, which lets an attorney, CPA or enrolled agent represent the business.

Both forms require you to list specific tax forms and periods, such as Form 941 for each quarter, and both are signed by someone with authority to bind the business. For a corporation, that is generally an officer with legal authority to bind it; the instructions for each form explain who qualifies for other entities.

What to check first

When a business has an IRS problem, the Business Tax Account answers three questions fast.

1. What does the IRS say we owe, by period? For payroll taxes, that is usually by quarter.
2. Which deposits and payments posted, and where? A deposit credited to the wrong quarter can create a balance that is not real.
3. What notices has the IRS sent? Compare the online list to what arrived in the mail.

Pull the account transcript for any period in question. If you cannot use the Business Tax Account, Form 4506-T can request business transcripts; enter one tax form number per request and list each quarter for quarterly returns. See the Form 4506 family.

Payroll deposits: the problem this account catches early

For businesses with employees, the most common account problem is a mismatch between the deposits made and the liability reported on Form 941 for a quarter. A deposit credited to the wrong quarter, or to the wrong type of tax, can produce a balance-due notice for a quarter that was fully paid, while another quarter shows a credit nobody asked for.

The Business Tax Account makes that visible. Compare, quarter by quarter:

• the liability reported on each Form 941,
• the deposits shown in your payment history, by date and amount,
• the balance the IRS shows for each quarter.

If they do not line up, gather your deposit confirmations and the 941s, and call the business line at 800-829-4933 or the number on the notice. Follow up in writing with proof. Misapplied payments are squarely within the right to pay no more than the correct amount, and if the IRS does not fix a confirmed error by the date it promised, the Taxpayer Advocate Service may help.

Before you register: a short checklist

• Confirm your entity type and the return it files: Schedule C or F, Form 1065, 1120-S or 1120.
• Confirm your role meets the IRS's requirements for full or limited access.
• Have your EIN and your own SSN or ITIN ready.
• Decide in advance who inside the business should be a Designated User, and who should not.

Lenders and IVES requests

Lenders verifying a business's income often use the IRS Income Verification Express Service. The Business Tax Account lets authorized users accept or reject those transcript requests. Read each one before approving: who is asking, which form, which years. A request you do not recognize deserves a phone call to the lender before you approve it.

Individual matters stay in the individual account

Your personal income tax, even if it includes business income on Schedule C, is still visible in your Individual Online Account. The Business Tax Account handles the business identity tied to the EIN. Many sole proprietors need both: the individual account for Form 1040 and the business account for employment tax deposits and EIN records.

Notices that go to the business

Businesses tend to lose IRS mail. The notice goes to an old address, to a registered agent, or to an employee who left. The online notices section is a backstop. Check it monthly. For each notice, note the period, the amount and the response date, and route it to whoever is responsible. Then make sure the IRS has the right business address on file; the business address change form is Form 8822-B. A notice the business never read still starts the clock.

When access does not fit your business

If your entity type or role is not yet supported, the paper and phone routes still work: Form 4506-T for transcripts, the business phone line at 800-829-4933, and authorizations for your professionals. The IRS adds features to these accounts over time, so check the Business Tax Account page periodically. The account that did not fit your business last year may fit it now.