Advance Payment of Employer Credits Due to COVID-19

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Instructions for Form 7200

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

(March 2020)

Advance Payment of Employer Credits Due to COVID-19
Background

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code
unless otherwise noted.

Future Developments

For the latest information about developments related to
Form 7200 and its instructions, such as legislation
enacted after they were published, go to IRS.gov/
Form7200.

General Instructions
Purpose of Form 7200

These instructions give you some background information
about Form 7200. They tell you who may file Form 7200,
when and how to file it, and how to complete it line by line.
For the latest information about coronavirus (COVID-19)
tax relief, go to IRS.gov/Coronavirus. If you want more
in-depth information about payroll tax topics, see Pub. 15
or go to IRS.gov/EmploymentTaxes.

Use Form 7200 to request an advance payment of the
tax credits for qualified sick and qualified family leave
wages and the employee retention credit that you will
claim on the following forms.
• Form 941, Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax
Return.
• Form 941-PR, Planilla para la Declaración Federal
TRIMESTRAL del Patrono.
• Form 941-SS, Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax
Return (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin
Islands).
• Form 943, Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return for
Agricultural Employees.
• Form 943-PR, Planilla para la Declaración Anual de la
Contribución Federal del Patrono de Empleados
Agrícolas.
• Form 944, Employer’s ANNUAL Federal Tax Return.
• Form 944(SP), Declaración Federal ANUAL de
Impuestos del Patrono o Empleador.
• Form CT-1, Employer's Annual Railroad Retirement
Tax Return.

!

CAUTION

You can’t request an advance payment of the
credits for sick and family leave for self-employed
individuals. Don’t use Form 7200 for those credits.

All references to Form 941 in these instructions also
apply to Forms 941-SS and 941-PR. All references to
Form 943 in these instructions also apply to Form 943-PR.
All references to Form 944 in these instructions also apply
to Form 944(SP).
Except where specifically indicated, all references to
"wages" in these instructions also means "compensation"
under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA).
Mar 30, 2020

P.L. 116-127, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). FFCRA is intended to help the
United States combat COVID-19 by requiring certain
businesses to provide paid leave to workers who are
unable to work or telework due to circumstances related
to COVID-19, and offsets the costs of providing the
required leave with refundable tax credits against
employment tax. FFCRA does this by implementing the
Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) to require
certain small and medium-sized employers to provide
such workers up to 80 hours of paid sick time, expanding
the Family and Medical Leave Act to provide such
workers paid family leave, and providing tax credits,
dollar-for-dollar up to certain amounts, to cover the costs
of providing the required qualified sick leave wages and
qualified family leave wages. Employers will be allowed
the full amount of this refundable credit even if it exceeds
their employment tax liability. If quarterly employment tax
deposits that are otherwise required are less than the
amount of credit for which the employer is eligible, the
employer may receive the remaining credit in advance,
using this form. FFCRA also provides similar credits for
certain self-employed persons in similar circumstances.
However, advance payments aren’t available for the credit
for self-employed individuals.
Eligible employers entitled to claim these refundable
tax credits are businesses and tax-exempt organizations
that have fewer than 500 employees and are required to
provide qualified sick leave wages and qualified family
leave wages under FFCRA. Government entities aren’t
entitled to the credit. Eligible employers also get credit for
the qualified health plan expenses allocated to the
qualified leave wages and for the employer’s share of
Medicare taxes on the qualified leave wages. Eligible
employers will be able to claim these credits based on
qualifying leave wages they paid for the period between
April 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020.
P.L. 116-136, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act supports
certain employers that operate a business during 2020
and retain employees, despite experiencing economic
hardship related to COVID-19, with an employee retention
credit. The refundable tax credit is equal to 50% of
qualified wages paid to employees after March 12, 2020,
and before January 1, 2021. A maximum of $10,000 in
qualified wages for each employee for all calendar
quarters may be counted in determining the 50% credit.
Employers are eligible for the credit for any quarter in
which they have either had to fully or partially suspend
operation of business because of governmental orders
due to COVID-19, or if they have had more than a 50%
decline in gross receipts as compared to the same quarter
a year ago. For employers that averaged 100 or fewer
full-time employees in 2019, the credit is based on the

Cat. No. 74321S

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the latest information about COVID-19 tax relief, including
Frequently Asked Questions, go to IRS.gov/Coronavirus.

qualified wages paid to all employees during these
periods. For employers that averaged more than 100
full-time employees in 2019, the credit is based on
qualified wages paid to those employees not providing
services due to the suspension of operations or decline in
gross receipts. Qualified wages include qualified health
plan expenses allocated to the qualified wages. Qualified
wages don’t include wages for which the employer
receives a credit for sick or family leave under FFCRA.
Employers who receive a Small Business Interruption
Loan under the CARES Act can’t claim the employee
retention credit. Government entities aren’t entitled to the
credit.

Who May File Form 7200?

Employers that file Form(s) 941, 943, 944, or CT-1 may
file Form 7200 to request an advance of the tax credit for
qualified sick and family leave wages and the employee
retention credit. You will need to reconcile any advanced
credits and reduced deposits on your employment tax
return that you will file for 2020. No employer is required to
file Form 7200. As described earlier under Background,
instead of filing Form 7200, you should first reduce your
employment tax deposits to account for the credits. You
can request the amount of the credit that exceeds your
reduced deposits by filing Form 7200 or waiting to get a
refund when you claim the credits on your employment tax
return.

Advance payment for the tax credit for qualified
leave wages and the employee retention credit using
Form 7200. When employers pay their employees,
they’re required to withhold federal income tax and the
employees' share of social security and Medicare taxes.
Employers are required to deposit these taxes, along with
their employer share of social security and Medicare
taxes, with the IRS and file employment tax returns
(Form(s) 941, 943, 944, or CT-1) with the IRS. Eligible
employers who pay qualified sick and family leave wages
or qualified wages eligible for the employee retention
credit should retain an amount of the employment taxes
equal to the amount of qualified sick and family leave
wages (plus certain related health plan expenses and the
employer’s share of the Medicare taxes on the qualified
leave wages) and their employee retention credit, rather
than depositing these amounts with the IRS. The
employment taxes that are available for the credits include
withheld federal income tax, the employee share of social
security and Medicare taxes, and the employer share of
social security and Medicare taxes with respect to all
employees. If there aren’t sufficient employment taxes to
cover the cost of qualified sick and family leave wages
(plus the qualified health expenses and the employer
share of Medicare tax on the qualified leave wages) and
the employee retention credit, employers can file Form
7200 to request an advance payment from the IRS. Don't
reduce your deposits and request advanced credits for
the same expected credit. You will need to reconcile your
advanced credits and reduced deposits on your
employment tax return.

Employment Tax Return Filed by a Third-Party
Payer

If you’re the common-law employer of the individuals that
are paid qualified sick or family leave, or wages qualifying
for the employee retention credit, you’re entitled to the
credit for the sick and family leave wages or the employee
retention credit, regardless of whether you use a
third-party payer (such as a payroll service provider,
professional employer organization (PEO), certified
professional employer organization (CPEO), or Section
3504 Agent) to report and pay your federal employment
taxes. The third-party payer isn’t entitled to the credits with
respect to the wages it remits on your behalf (regardless
of whether the third party is considered an “employer” for
other purposes).
Section 3504 Agents and CPEOs must currently
complete Schedule R (Form 941), Allocation Schedule for
Aggregate Form 941 Filers, when filing an aggregate
Form 941, or Schedule R (Form 943), Allocation Schedule
for Aggregate Form 943 Filers, when filing an aggregate
Form 943. If you’re a client of a Section 3504 Agent or
CPEO, you’re entitled to request the advance payment of
the credits on Form 7200 even though your employment
tax return information is included on the aggregate
employment tax return filed by the Section 3504 Agent or
CPEO. However, you will need to provide your Section
3504 Agent or CPEO with copies of the Form(s) 7200 that
you submitted so they can reconcile the credits on the
aggregate employment tax return.

Examples. If an employer is entitled to a credit of
$5,000 for qualified sick leave wages, certain related
health plan expenses, and the employer’s share of
Medicare tax on the leave wages and is otherwise
required to deposit $8,000 in employment taxes, the
employer could reduce its federal employment tax
deposits by $5,000. The employer would only be required
to deposit the remaining $3,000 on its next regular deposit
date.
If an employer is entitled to an employee retention
credit of $10,000 and was required to deposit $8,000 in
employment taxes, the employer could retain the entire
$8,000 of taxes as a portion of the refundable tax credit it
is entitled to and file a request for an advance payment for
the remaining $2,000 using Form 7200.
More information. The IRS will publish information
and guidance about tax relief related to COVID-19. For

If you’re a client of a Non-Certified PEO (a PEO that
pays wages to individuals as part of the services provided
to a client pursuant to a service agreement, such as
collecting, reporting, and/or paying or depositing
employment taxes), and you’re otherwise entitled to
request the advance payment of the credits on Form
7200, you may still request the advance even though your
employment tax return information is included on the
aggregate employment tax return filed by the
Non-Certified PEO. You will need to provide your
Non-Certified PEO with copies of the Form(s) 7200 that
you submitted so they can reconcile the credits on the
aggregate employment tax return using Schedule R (Form
941).
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Instructions for Form 7200 (3-2020)

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For more information on the different types of
third-party payer arrangements, see section 16 in Pub. 15.

Specific Instructions

Correcting Form 7200

Enter Your Business Information

You can’t file a corrected Form 7200. If you made an error
on Form 7200, the error will be corrected when you file
your Form(s) 941, 943, 944, or CT-1 for 2020.

Enter your name, trade name (if any), employer
identification number (EIN), and address at the top of
Form 7200. Make sure that they exactly match the name
of your business and the EIN that the IRS assigned to
your business. If you use a tax preparer to fill out Form
7200, make sure the preparer shows your business name
exactly as it appeared when you applied for your EIN.
Leave the “Trade name” line blank if it is the same as your
“Name.” If mail isn't delivered to your street address, enter
your P.O. box number. Don't abbreviate the name of a
foreign country.

When May You File?

The employer tax credits for qualified sick leave wages
and qualified family leave wages apply to those wages
paid for the period from April 1, 2020, to December 31,
2020.
The employer tax credit for qualified wages for
retention of employees during suspension of operations
due to a government order or due to a significant decline
in gross receipts applies to those wages paid after March
12, 2020, and before January 1, 2021. The credit due to a
significant decline in gross receipts is available for the
period beginning with any quarter in which your gross
receipts are less than 50% of what they were in the same
calendar quarter in 2019 and ending with the quarter that
follows the first quarter beginning after the quarter in
which your gross receipts were greater than 80% of what
they were in the same calendar quarter in 2019.

If you use a third-party payer, enter the name and EIN
of the third-party payer. See Employment Tax Return
Filed by a Third-Party Payer, earlier.
Applicable calendar quarter. Check the box to indicate
the applicable calendar quarter of 2020 for which you’re
filing Form 7200. If you file an annual employment tax
return (Form 943, 944, or CT-1), you should still check the
box to indicate the applicable calendar quarter of 2020 in
which the wages are paid.

Part I: Tell Us About Your
Employment Tax Return
Lines A–D

You can file the form for advance credits anticipated for
a quarter at any time before the end of the month following
the quarter in which you paid the qualified wages. If
necessary, you can file Form 7200 several times during
each quarter. Don’t file Form 7200 after you file Form 941
for the fourth quarter of 2020, or file Form 943, 944, or
CT-1 for 2020. Don’t file the form to request advance
credits for any anticipated credit for which you already
reduced your deposits.

Line A. Check the box to tell us which employment tax
return you file or will file for 2020.
Line B. Tell us if you’re a new business that started on or
after January 1, 2020. If you’re a new business that hasn't
yet filed an employment tax return, you may skip line C. If
you've already filed Form 941, Form 941-PR, or Form
941-SS for at least one quarter of 2020, you must
complete line C.

How To File
Fax your completed form to 855-248-0552.

Recordkeeping

Line C. Enter the amount reported on line 2, Wages, tips,
and other compensation, of your most recently filed Form
941. The IRS will use this information to verify that the
credit is being paid to the correct employer. If your wages
are reported on Schedule R (Form 941), enter the wages
reported by your third-party payer for your EIN on its most
recently filed Schedule R (Form 941), column (c). If your
wages are reported on Schedule R (Form 943), enter the
social security tax reported by your third-party payer for
your EIN on its most recently filed Schedule R (Form 943),
column (c). See Employment Tax Return Filed by a
Third-Party Payer, earlier. If you file a different
employment tax return, report the amount from your most
recently filed return as follows.
• Form 941-PR, line 5a, Salarios sujetos a la contribución
al Seguro Social. Enter the amount reported in columna 1.
• Form 941-SS, line 5a, Taxable social security wages.
Enter the amount reported in column 1.
• Form 943, line 2, Total wages subject to social security
tax.
• Form 943-PR, line 2, Total de salarios sujetos a la
contribución al Seguro Social.
• Form 944, line 1, Wages, tips, and other compensation.

Keep all records of employment taxes for at least 4 years.
These should be available for IRS review. Your records
should include the following information.
• Documentation to show how you figured the amount of
qualified sick and family leave wages eligible for the
credit.
• Documentation to show how you figured the amount of
the employee retention credit.
• Documentation to show how you figured the amount of
qualified health plan expenses that you allocated to
wages.
• Documentation to show how you determined that the
employees were qualified to receive sick and family leave
wages, including any additional information set out in
Frequently Asked Questions or other guidance on
IRS.gov.
• Documentation to show your eligibility for the employee
retention credit based on suspension of operations or
significant decline in gross receipts.
• Copies of completed Form(s) 7200 you filed with the
IRS.

Instructions for Form 7200 (3-2020)

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• Form 944(SP), line 1, Salarios, propinas y otras
remuneraciones.
• Form CT-1, line 1, Tier 1 employer tax—compensation
(other than tips and sick pay). Enter the amount reported
in the Compensation column.

should see Frequently Asked Questions on IRS.gov for
more information.
The wages considered in calculating your credit
depend on the size of your workforce. Eligible employers
that had an average number of 100 or less full-time
employees during 2019 count wages paid to all their
employees. Eligible employers that had an average
number of more than 100 full-time employees in 2019 may
count only wages paid to employees that didn’t provide
services due to the suspension or significant decline in
gross receipts and only wages that don’t exceed what the
employer would have paid that employee for working for
the same amount of time during the prior 30 days.
Qualified wages also include certain health plan
expenses allocable to the wages. See Credit for certain
health plan expenses, later. Qualified wages don’t include
wages included on line 2 or line 3 for a credit for sick or
family leave. Finally, you can’t include wages paid to
employees for whom you will take a work opportunity tax
credit during this quarter. For more information about the
work opportunity tax credit, go to IRS.gov/WOTC.

Line D. Enter the total number of employees you have.
If you have 500 or more employees, you’re not eligible
to claim the credit for qualified paid sick and family leave
wages.
Your employee retention credit may be limited based
on the number of employees you have; see the Line 1
instructions next for more information.

Part II: Enter Your Credits and
Advance Requested
Lines 1–8
The amounts entered on lines 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 are
cumulative totals for the quarter. For example, if
CAUTION you file Form 7200 on April 24, 2020, because you
have a $7,000 employee retention credit to report on
line 1 and reduced deposits of $4,000 to account for the
credit (line 5), but you previously filed a Form 7200 on
April 10, 2020, that reported $5,000 on line 1 and reduced
deposits of $3,500 on line 5, the Form 7200 you file on
April 24, 2020, will report $12,000 on line 1, $7,500 on
line 5, and $1,500 on line 6 (advance from Form 7200,
line 8, filed April 10). The advance requested (line 8) on
April 24 is $3,000. If you later file another Form 7200 to
request an advance of any leave credits on lines 2 and 3,
you must still enter your cumulative totals for the quarter
on lines 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 even if you're not reporting any
new amount for the employee retention credit on line 1.

!

Line 2. Enter the qualified sick leave wages you paid so
far in the current quarter. You may add to this line your
cost of maintaining health insurance coverage for the
employee during the sick leave period (see Credit for
certain health plan expenses, later), and you may also
add to this line the employer's share of Medicare taxes on
the qualified sick leave wages paid. Qualified sick leave
wages are the wages required to be paid under the
EPSLA.
Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA). The
EPSLA requires employers with less than 500 employees
to provide paid sick leave to employees unable to work or
telework because the employee:
1. Is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or
isolation order related to COVID-19;
2. Has been advised by a health care provider to
self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19;
3. Is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and
seeking a medical diagnosis;
4. Is caring for an individual subject to an order
described in (1) or who has been advised as described in
(2);
5. Is caring for a child if the school or place of care has
been closed, or the childcare provider is unavailable, due
to COVID-19 precautions; or
6. Is experiencing any other substantially similar
condition specified by the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.

Line 1. Enter 50% of the amount of the qualified wages
you paid to your employees so far in the current quarter. If
you paid any qualified wages between March 13, 2020,
and March 31, 2020, include 50% of those wages
together with 50% of any qualified wages paid during the
second quarter for the second-quarter total to enter on
line 1. You may not know you have qualified wages
entitling you to the employee retention credit until you
have determined you have had a significant decline in
gross receipts compared to the same quarter in 2019.
Only enter 50% of the qualified wages; don’t enter the full
amount. Qualified wages may not exceed 50% of $10,000
($5,000) for any employee for all quarters.
Qualified wages are wages for social security and
Medicare tax purposes paid to certain employees during a
quarter in which your operations are suspended due to a
government order or during a quarter in which you have
had a significant decline in gross receipts. The law
provides that the significant decline in gross receipts is the
period beginning with any quarter in which your gross
receipts are less than 50% of what they were in the same
calendar quarter in 2019 and ending with the quarter that
follows the first quarter beginning after the quarter in
which your gross receipts were greater than 80% of what
they were in the same calendar quarter in 2019. New
employers that didn’t carry on a trade or business in 2019

Limits on qualified sick leave wages. The EPSLA
provides different limitations for different circumstances
under which qualified sick leave wages are paid. For paid
sick leave qualifying under (1), (2), or (3) above, the
amount of qualified sick leave wages taken into account
for the credit is determined at the employee's regular rate
of pay but the wages may not exceed $511 for any day (or
portion of a day) for which the individual is paid sick leave.
For paid sick leave qualifying under (4), (5), or (6) above,
the amount of qualified sick leave wages taken into
account is determined at two-thirds the employee's
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regular rate of pay but the wages may not exceed $200 for
any day (or portion of a day) for which the individual is
paid sick leave. The EPSLA also limits the paid sick leave
paid to an individual to up to 80 hours for the year.
Therefore, the maximum amount of paid sick leave wages
eligible for the credit for the year can’t exceed $5,110 for
an employee for leave under (1), (2), or (3), and it can’t
exceed $2,000 for an employee for leave under (4), (5), or
(6). For more information from the Department of Labor on
these requirements and limits, see DOL.gov/
agencies/whd/pandemic.

Line 4. Add lines 1, 2, and 3 and enter the result on
line 4.
Line 5. Enter the amount by which you have already
reduced your federal employment tax deposits for the
credit for qualified leave wages (and certain health
expenses and the employer’s share of Medicare tax on
the qualified leave wages) and the employee retention
credit for this quarter. If you don’t enter this amount, or you
enter the incorrect amount, you may have an
underpayment when you file your employment tax return.
Line 6. Enter the amount of any advances that you
applied for on previous filings of this form for this quarter.
If you don’t enter this amount, or you enter the incorrect
amount, you may have an underpayment when you file
your employment tax return.

Line 3. Enter the qualified family leave wages you paid
so far in the current quarter. You may add to this line your
cost of maintaining health insurance coverage for the
employee during the family leave period (see Credit for
certain health plan expenses, later), and you may also
add to this line the employer's share of Medicare taxes on
the qualified family leave wages paid. Qualified family
leave wages are the wages required to be paid under the
Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act.
Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion
Act. The Emergency Family and Medical Leave
Expansion Act requires employers with less than 500
employees to provide public health emergency leave
under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to an
employee who has been employed for at least 30
calendar days. The requirement to provide leave generally
applies when an employee is unable to work or telework
due to the need to care for a child under age 18 because
the school or place of care has been closed, or the
childcare provider is unavailable, due to a public health
emergency.
The first 10 days for which an employee takes leave
may be unpaid. During this period, employees may use
other forms of paid leave, such as qualified sick leave,
accrued sick leave, annual leave, or other paid time off.
After an employee takes leave for 10 days, the employer
must provide the employee paid leave (that is, qualified
family leave wages) for up to 10 weeks. For more
information from the Department of Labor on these
requirements, possible exceptions, and the limitations
discussed below, see DOL.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic.
Rate of pay and limit on wages. The rate of pay must
be at least two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of pay
(as determined under the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938), multiplied by the number of hours the employee
otherwise would have been scheduled to work. The
qualified family leave wages can’t exceed $200 per day or
$10,000 in the aggregate per employee for the year.

Line 7. Add lines 5 and 6 and enter the result on line 7.
Line 8. Subtract line 7 from line 4 and enter the amount
on line 8. If the amount is zero or less, don’t file this form;
you’re not eligible to receive an advance. You will need to
report the amount of the advance that you request on your
employment tax return for the return period, as well as the
amounts that you requested on line 8 of other Forms 7200
that you file during the return period.
We will apply any advance requested to any past
due tax account that is shown in our records
CAUTION under your EIN before paying the advance you
requested.

!

Third-Party Designee
If you want to allow an employee, a paid tax preparer, or
another person to discuss your Form 7200 with the IRS,
check the “Yes” box in Part 4. Enter the name, phone
number, and the five-digit personal identification number
(PIN) of the specific person to speak with—not the name
of the firm that prepared your tax return. The designee
may choose any five numbers as his or her PIN.
By checking “Yes,” you authorize the IRS to talk to the
person you named (your designee) about any questions
we may have while we process your return. You also
authorize your designee to do all of the following.
• Give us any information that is missing from your return.
• Call us for information about processing your return.
• Respond to certain IRS notices that you’ve shared with
your designee about math errors and return preparation.
The IRS won't send notices to your designee.
You’re not authorizing your designee to bind you to
anything (including additional tax liability) or to otherwise
represent you before the IRS. If you want to expand your
designee's authorization, see Pub. 947.
The authorization will automatically expire after 1 year.
If you or your designee wants to terminate the
authorization, write to the IRS office for your location using
the Without a payment address in the instructions for your
employment tax return.

Credit for certain health plan expenses. The credit for
qualified sick leave wages and qualified family leave
wages is increased to cover the qualified health plan
expenses that are properly allocable to the qualified
wages for which the credit is allowed. Qualified wages for
purposes of the employee retention credit also include
certain health plan expenses allocable to those wages.
These qualified health plan expenses are amounts paid or
incurred by the employer to provide and maintain a group
health plan but only to the extent such amounts are
excluded from the employees’ income as coverage under
an accident or health plan. For more information, see
Frequently Asked Questions on IRS.gov.
Instructions for Form 7200 (3-2020)

Sign Here (Approved Roles)
Complete all information and sign Form 7200. The
following persons are authorized to sign the return for
each type of business entity.
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• Sole proprietorship—The individual who owns the
business.
• Corporation (including a limited liability company
(LLC) treated as a corporation)—The president, vice
president, or other principal officer duly authorized to sign.
• Partnership (including an LLC treated as a
partnership) or unincorporated organization—A
responsible and duly authorized partner, member, or
officer having knowledge of its affairs.
• Single-member LLC treated as a disregarded entity
for federal income tax purposes—The owner of the
LLC or a principal officer duly authorized to sign.
• Trust or estate—The fiduciary.
Form 7200 may be signed by a duly authorized agent
of the taxpayer if a valid power of attorney has been filed.

need it to figure the right credit and figure and collect the
right amount of tax. Failure to provide this information may
delay or prevent processing your request; providing false
or fraudulent information may subject you to penalties.
You’re not required to provide the information
requested on a form that is subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act unless the form displays a valid OMB
control number. Books or records relating to a form or its
instructions must be retained as long as their contents
may become material in the administration of any Internal
Revenue law.
Generally, tax returns and return information are
confidential, as required by section 6103. However,
section 6103 allows or requires us to disclose this
information to others as described in the Code. We may
disclose your tax information to the Department of Justice
for civil and criminal litigation, and to cities, states, the
District of Columbia, and U.S. commonwealths and
possessions to administer their tax laws. We may disclose
this information to the Social Security Administration for
administration of the Social Security Act. We may also
disclose this information to other countries under a tax
treaty, to federal and state agencies to enforce federal
nontax criminal laws, or to federal law enforcement and
intelligence agencies to combat terrorism.

Paid Preparer Use Only

A paid preparer must sign Form 7200 and provide the
information in the Paid Preparer Use Only section if the
preparer was paid to prepare Form 7200 and isn't an
employee of the filing entity. Paid preparers must sign
paper returns with a manual signature. The preparer must
give you a copy of the return in addition to the copy to be
filed with the IRS.
If you’re a paid preparer, enter your Preparer Tax
Identification Number (PTIN) in the space provided.
Include your complete address. If you work for a firm,
enter the firm's name and the EIN of the firm. You can
apply for a PTIN online or by filing Form W-12. For more
information about applying for a PTIN online, go to
IRS.gov/PTIN. You can't use your PTIN in place of the EIN
of the tax preparation firm.

The time needed to complete and file Form 7200 will
vary depending on individual circumstances. The
estimated average time is:
Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Learning about the law or the form . . . . . . . . .
Preparing and sending the form to the IRS . . . .

Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice.
We ask for the information on Form 7200 to carry out the
Internal Revenue laws of the United States. You’re not
required to request advance payment of the credit for
qualified sick or family leave wages, or the employee
retention credit; if you do request it, you’re required to give
us the information requested on this form. Subtitle C,
Employment Taxes, of the Internal Revenue Code
imposes employment taxes on wages and provides for
income tax withholding. Section 6109 requires you to
provide your identification number. Sections 6001, 6011,
and 7805 authorize us to collect the other information. We

7 hr., 39 min.
35 min.
45 min.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of
these time estimates or suggestions for making Form
7200 simpler, we would be happy to hear from you. You
can send us comments from IRS.gov/FormComments. Or
you can write to the Internal Revenue Service, Tax Forms
and Publications Division, 1111 Constitution Ave. NW,
IR-6526, Washington, DC 20224. Don't send Form 7200
to this address. Instead, see How To File, earlier.

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Instructions for Form 7200 (3-2020)