Tax Preparer Client Intake Forms and Engagement Letters

A client intake form and a signed engagement letter are not paperwork formalities. They are the two documents that determine how much liability you carry when something goes wrong. The intake form creates the written record that a client gave you specific information on a specific date. The engagement letter defines exactly what you agreed to do -- and, just as important, what you did not agree to do. Without both, a dispute about what was provided, what was promised, or who bears responsibility for an error is a dispute you are poorly equipped to defend.

This guide covers what belongs on a client intake form for tax preparation, how intake data feeds EITC due diligence requirements, what an engagement letter must include to be useful rather than decorative, how Section 7216 written consent fits into the intake process, and sample language you can adapt with your attorney's review. This guide is informational and does not constitute legal or tax advice. For questions specific to your practice, consult a qualified attorney. Regulatory figures cited here should be verified at IRS.gov before each filing season.

The Client Intake Form for Tax Preparation

A client intake form for tax preparation serves three distinct purposes at once: it collects the information needed to prepare an accurate return, it creates the documentation record required for due diligence on credits like the EITC, and it initiates the data handling obligations imposed by IRC Section 7216. A form that serves only the first purpose leaves gaps in the other two.

What belongs on the form

The following categories of information belong on every client intake form for tax preparation, whether the client is new or returning.

Identifying and demographic information

• Full legal name (as it appears on Social Security card or ITIN documentation)
• Date of birth
• Social Security number or ITIN
• Current mailing address
• Phone number and email address
• Occupation and employer (if applicable)
• Filing status (single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household, qualifying surviving spouse)

Spouse information

• Full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security number or ITIN
• Occupation and employer
• Marital status change during the year (marriage, separation, divorce) and effective date

Dependent information

• Full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security number for each dependent
• Relationship to the taxpayer
• Number of months the dependent lived with the taxpayer during the tax year
• Whether the dependent is a qualifying child or qualifying relative
• Any change in custody or residency from the prior year

Income sources

• W-2 wages (all employers for the year)
• Self-employment or freelance income, with a description of the business activity
• 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC income
• Interest and dividend income (1099-INT, 1099-DIV)
• Retirement and pension distributions (1099-R)
• Social Security benefits (SSA-1099)
• Rental income and related expenses
• Unemployment compensation (1099-G)
• Any other income received during the year

Prior-year preparer information

For new clients, ask for the name and contact information of the prior-year preparer and whether the client has a copy of last year's return. The prior-year return establishes baseline figures for carryforward items, prior-year AGI needed for e-file authentication, and any issues -- installment agreements, open audits, unfiled years -- that affect the current return.

IP PIN

Ask every client, every year, whether the IRS has issued them an Identity Protection PIN. An IP PIN is a six-digit number that must be included on the return to allow it to be processed electronically. An IP PIN changes each January. If a client has one and you do not include it, the e-filed return will be rejected. If a return is submitted without a required IP PIN on paper, processing is delayed significantly. See the IP PIN guide for tax preparers for how IP PINs work and where clients retrieve them each year.

Bank product preference

Ask whether the client wants their refund by direct deposit, paper check, or a bank product such as a refund transfer (RT). If the client elects a bank product, capture their bank routing and account numbers for direct deposit, or note that a bank product is requested. Note that offering bank products to clients triggers its own Section 7216 consent requirements (covered in the Section 7216 section of this guide below) because referring a client to a bank product provider is a disclosure of tax return information to a third party.

Life changes from the prior year

Include an open-ended question asking the client to identify any significant changes from the prior year: new job, job loss, marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, death in the family, purchase or sale of a home, retirement, or any other change the client believes affects their tax situation. This question, combined with specific follow-up on dependent and income fields, is the front line of the knowledge standard inquiry for EITC and other credits.

New Clients vs. Returning Clients: What to Re-Verify Every Year

The intake process is not a one-time event. A returning client is not a completed checklist you carry forward -- they are a person whose situation can change materially from one January to the next. The obligation to verify, particularly for credits like the EITC, applies to every return, every year.

New client intake requirements

For a new client, collect all fields on the intake form from scratch. In addition to the standard intake information, obtain a copy of a valid government-issued photo ID to verify identity. If the client is an ITIN holder, verify that the ITIN is current (ITINs expire if not used on a federal return for three consecutive years, and ITINs with certain middle digits expire on a fixed schedule; verify current ITIN expiration rules at IRS.gov). Request a copy of the prior-year return, or at minimum the prior-year AGI, for e-file authentication purposes.

What to re-verify for returning clients

For a returning client, do not simply roll over last year's data and ask the client to sign off. The following fields must be actively re-confirmed each year, because these are the fields most likely to have changed and most likely to generate an error or a due diligence problem if left unverified:

How the Intake Form Feeds EITC Due Diligence

The EITC due diligence penalty is $650 per failure per return as of 2026 under IRC Section 6695(g), which adjusts for inflation. Verify the current amount at IRS.gov before each filing season. The four due diligence requirements under that section include completing Form 8867, applying the knowledge standard, keeping records, and not using information known to be incorrect. The client intake form is the mechanism that satisfies the record-keeping requirement and supports the knowledge standard inquiry.

Form 8867 is the preparer's document: it must be completed by the preparer, submitted with the return, and retained in the preparer's files. But Form 8867 answers questions -- about qualifying children, residency, relationship tests, and income -- that can only be answered from information the client provides. The intake form is where you gather that information in writing, with the client's signature confirming the answers. That written record is your evidence that you asked the required questions. Without it, you have no documented basis for the entries on Form 8867, and no defense if the IRS requests your due diligence records. See the EITC due diligence and Form 8867 guide for a full treatment of the four requirements and how to document compliance.

The connection between the intake form and due diligence is not just procedural. The knowledge standard requires you to ask reasonable follow-up questions when information seems inconsistent, implausible, or incomplete. A well-designed intake form surfaces those inconsistencies: if a client's reported income is implausibly low for the number of dependents claimed, that discrepancy appears in the intake form before you begin the return. That is the right moment to ask the follow-up questions and document the answers -- not after the return is prepared and an IRS inquiry has arrived.

Data Security: How Intake Forms Are Protected Under Section 7216

Everything collected on a client intake form for tax preparation -- name, Social Security number, income figures, dependent details, bank account numbers, and the fact that a person is your client at all -- is tax return information protected under IRC Section 7216 from the moment it is collected. The protection applies before the return is prepared, not after. The information does not need to appear on a filed return to be protected; it is protected because it was furnished in connection with preparing a tax return.

The practical implications for how you handle intake forms are direct: completed intake forms must be stored securely, access must be limited to staff with a legitimate preparation-related need, and the information cannot be shared with third parties -- marketing firms, referral partners, affiliated businesses -- without a written consent form that complies with the specific requirements of Treas. Reg. 301.7216-3. See the IRC Section 7216 compliance guide for a full treatment of what the law prohibits, what disclosures are permitted without consent, and what a compliant consent form must contain.

The data security requirements that apply alongside Section 7216 are equally concrete. IRS Publication 4557 and the FTC Safeguards Rule require every paid preparer to maintain a Written Information Security Plan (WISP) that addresses how client data -- including the data on intake forms -- is collected, stored, accessed, and protected from breach. Paper intake forms must be secured (locked storage, access controls); digital intake forms and client portals must use appropriate technical safeguards. See the tax preparer data security and WISP guide for the specific requirements and how to build a compliant WISP for an independent practice.

The Engagement Letter for Tax Preparers

An engagement letter is a written agreement between the preparer and the client that defines the scope of the engagement before work begins. It is not a contract of adhesion or a lengthy legal document. It is a short, clear statement of what you are doing, what the client is providing, what happens if the client provides incomplete or inaccurate information, and how disputes will be handled. Its value is entirely in the clarity it creates before any disagreement arises -- not in the length of the fine print.

No federal law requires independent paid preparers to use engagement letters. But the absence of an engagement letter leaves you exposed to the single most common dispute in the independent tax practice: a client who believes you were responsible for advice you never gave, for a return you never agreed to prepare, or for a result that arose from information the client did not provide accurately. A signed engagement letter is the documented record of the agreed scope. Without it, the scope of the engagement is whatever the client later remembers it to be.

What an engagement letter must cover

Scope of services

State specifically which returns will be prepared and for which tax year. If you are preparing the federal return and one state return, say so. If you are not preparing a second state return, a prior-year return, a payroll return, an amended return, or any other filing the client might assume is included, say that too. Ambiguity in scope is where disputes begin. The engagement letter is the place to eliminate it.

Preparer's responsibilities

Describe what the preparer will do: prepare the identified returns based on information provided by the client, apply relevant tax law to that information, and submit the completed return for the client's review and signature before transmission. Be specific. If you will also file any extensions, e-file the return, or respond to a routine IRS notice, include that. If you will not, do not let the client assume you will.

Client's responsibilities

The client is responsible for providing complete, accurate, and timely information. State that explicitly. The engagement letter should make clear that the accuracy of the return depends on the accuracy of the information the client provides, and that the preparer is not responsible for errors that result from information the client omitted, understated, or stated incorrectly. This is not a limitation on your professional obligations -- it is a factual description of how return preparation works.

Fee structure

Reference your firm's fee schedule. Do not lock in a specific number in the engagement letter unless your fee is genuinely fixed in advance. A return that turns out to be more complex than anticipated -- additional schedules, unexpected income items, or a bank product arrangement -- may carry a different fee than the initial estimate. The engagement letter can state that fees are based on complexity and are per your firm's current fee schedule, with a reference to where the client can find that schedule. If you do quote a specific fee, make clear whether it is a firm price or an estimate.

Limitation of liability

State that the preparer's liability is limited to the services defined in the engagement letter and does not extend to issues outside the agreed scope. The limitation of liability clause does not eliminate professional responsibility -- it defines the boundaries of what was agreed. A preparer who makes an error on a return the engagement letter covers remains responsible for that error. But a client who claims the preparer was responsible for advice never discussed, for a return never included in the engagement, or for a result that arose from incomplete information the client provided has a significantly harder time establishing liability against a preparer with a signed engagement letter in the file.

Data use and Section 7216 reference

The engagement letter should acknowledge that client tax return information is protected under IRC Section 7216 and that the preparer will not disclose or use that information for any purpose outside the preparation of the return without written consent. This is not the consent form itself -- the Section 7216 consent form must be a separate document, as discussed in the next section -- but a reference in the engagement letter to the legal framework establishes that the client was informed and sets expectations about how their information will be handled.

When to Get the Engagement Letter Signed

The engagement letter must be signed before work begins, every tax year. Not once for a long-term client and not carried forward from a prior year. There are three reasons this timing matters.

First, the scope of work can change year to year. A client who needed only a simple 1040 last year may have started a business this year, adding Schedule C, self-employment tax, and potentially quarterly estimated payment discussions. A prior-year engagement letter describing only the 1040 does not cover the expanded scope.

Second, any Section 7216 consent forms attached to or obtained alongside the engagement letter expire. Under Treas. Reg. 301.7216-3, consent forms are valid for no more than one year. A prior-year consent for a bank product referral or a marketing communication does not carry forward. The annual signing of the engagement letter creates the natural moment to renew any required consents.

Third, an engagement letter signed after a dispute arises is of no use. Its value is entirely prospective: it defines the relationship before any disagreement exists. A letter signed at the end of the engagement, or not at all, leaves both parties to reconstruct the scope from memory.

The practical workflow: obtain the signed intake form and the signed engagement letter (along with any required Section 7216 consent forms) at the first client contact for the tax year, before any preparation work begins. Retain copies in the client file. For returning clients, this can be handled efficiently at the beginning of the tax year intake appointment or, for remote clients, as part of the initial document-gathering process.

What happens without a signed engagement letter

Without a signed engagement letter, the scope of the engagement is undefined. A client who is unhappy with an outcome -- a tax bill that was larger than expected, a refund that was smaller, a notice that arrived after filing -- has nothing constraining their account of what you agreed to do. Common claims against preparers without engagement letters include: that the preparer guaranteed a specific refund amount, that the preparer agreed to respond to IRS notices, that the preparer agreed to advise on state tax obligations in multiple states, and that the preparer agreed to file returns for prior years as part of the current-year engagement. None of these are outlandish claims in a disputed situation. A signed engagement letter that addresses each of them explicitly is the simplest protection against all of them.

Section 7216 Written Consent: Where It Fits in the Intake Process

The client intake process is the point at which IRC Section 7216 written consent is obtained for any disclosure that requires it. The two most common scenarios for independent preparers are bank product referrals and marketing communications.

When a client elects a bank product -- a refund transfer, refund anticipation product, or similar bank-issued product connected to the tax return -- the preparer must refer the client's return information to the bank product provider to originate the product. That referral is a disclosure of tax return information to a third party under Section 7216. It requires a written consent form that complies with Treas. Reg. 301.7216-3: a separate document (not a clause in the engagement letter), identifying the preparer and client, describing what information will be shared, naming the bank product provider or describing the category of provider, stating the purpose, confirming the consent is voluntary, and specifying a time period of no more than one year.

The intake appointment is the right moment to obtain this consent: the client has already indicated a bank product preference on the intake form, and the consent can be presented and signed as part of the same client-facing process. Obtaining the consent before the referral occurs -- not after -- is the legal requirement.

For preparers who use client intake data to solicit non-tax-preparation services (bookkeeping, financial planning, insurance) or who share client information with affiliated businesses, consent forms for those purposes must also be obtained before the relevant disclosure occurs. The intake process, with the client present and signing documents, is the most efficient time to obtain these consents. See the IRC Section 7216 guide for the full list of disclosures that require consent and the technical requirements each consent form must satisfy.

Building a Repeatable Intake and Engagement Process

The goal is a process that runs the same way for every client, every year -- not a different judgment call each time based on how busy you are or how long the client has been with you. A consistent process is a defensible process.

Frequently Asked Questions