Tax preparation engagement letter
What a tax engagement letter covers, what clients actually push back on, and how to get both spouses to sign from their phones.
An engagement letter sets out what you will prepare, what you will not, what it costs, and what the client is responsible for. It is the document your insurer asks for first when a client disputes a fee or blames you for a penalty. Most firms send one every season, signed by both spouses on a joint return.
Fields, in order.
- 01Parties
Your firm and every client on the return. On a joint return, both spouses sign.
- 02Services
The tax year and the exact returns: 1040, which states, any extensions. Anything not listed is not included.
- 03Fees
The fee or how it is figured, any deposit, and when the balance is due. Clients dispute vague fees, not high ones.
- 04Client responsibilities
Accurate, complete information, records that back up each item, and reviewing the return before it is filed.
- 05Document deadline
The date you need everything by to file on time. Later than that means an extension.
- 06Filing and records
E-filing after Form 8879 is signed, how long you keep copies, and that audit representation is a separate engagement.
Common mistakes.
On a joint return both spouses are your clients. Send it to both, in order or at once.
List the returns. If a client later expects a state return, an amended return or audit help, the letter decides it.
Get it back before you prepare anything. A signature request link with reminders usually comes back the same day.
Consent to use or disclose tax return information has to be its own signed form, and you cannot make the engagement conditional on it.
Terms you will see.
Ask the document what any of them means. The answer cites the page.
Fill it, check it, sign it.
Fill it by asking
Drop the PDF, paste the facts, and the agent fills every matching field. Unmatched fields are listed so nothing is skipped.
Check it before you send
Empty required fields, a missing signature, a date that disagrees with another page. The document check lists them with page numbers.
Sign it and send it
Draw your signature and place it, free. Or send it to someone else to sign on their phone, with an audit certificate. Free, 25 a month.
Tax engagement letter,
answered.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Can both spouses sign from their phones?+
Yes. Fill in your part, choose Request signatures, add both spouses. They sign on their phones with no login and you get the signed copy with a certificate of completion.
Can I use my own engagement letter?+
Yes. Open your own PDF or Word-to-PDF letter in Fill & Sign and send it the same way.
Does this replace Form 8879?+
No. Form 8879 is the IRS e-file signature authorization and has its own rules, including identity checks for remote signing.
Fill your Tax engagement letter in about ninety seconds.
Type into it, sign with your finger and send it back. No card needed.