PDF to Web Form

Tax client intake form

Sent in December, answered before January — so the first appointment is a return being prepared rather than a list being read out.

Free, and no account needed to start. Send the link however you normally would: text, email, or a group chat. People fill it in on their phones. Sort the answers, search them, download them as a spreadsheet. 100 replies a month on the free plan.

Or download the printable PDF. Free, no email address, ready to print and pin up.

Already have your own version? Upload it and keep your wording.

The form people fill in, and the list you get back

This is the real form, not a screenshot of one, and it works. Below it is what you see as the answers come in.

Tax preparation intake

22 questions · takes about 6 min

Have we prepared your return before?
Filing status
Did any of these change during the year?

Select all that apply.

Which of these did you have income from?

Select all that apply.

Which of these might apply to you?

Select all that apply.

Did you make estimated tax payments during the year?
Which documents do you already have?

Select all that apply.

How would you like to send us your documents?
If you are due a refund, how would you like it?
Signature
Sign above with your finger or mouse

By signing here I agree that this signature, and the answers submitted with it, are mine and have the same effect as a signature on paper.

All 22 questions

  1. Full name (required)
  2. Spouse's full name, if filing jointly
  3. Phone number (required)
  4. Email address (required)
  5. Tax year (required)
  6. Have we prepared your return before? (required)
  7. If somebody else prepared last year's return, who?
  8. Filing status (required)
  9. Did any of these change during the year?
  10. Dependants — name, date of birth and relationship
  11. Which of these did you have income from? (required)
  12. Which states did you live or work in during the year?
  13. Which of these might apply to you?
  14. Did you make estimated tax payments during the year? (required)
  15. Anything unusual about this year we should know before we start?
  16. Which documents do you already have?
  17. How would you like to send us your documents? (required)
  18. If you are due a refund, how would you like it?
  19. I authorise this firm to prepare my return and to contact me about it (required)
  20. The information above is accurate to the best of my knowledge (required)
  21. Signature (required)
  22. Date (required)

You can reword any of these, or add your own, after you create it.

An example of what you see when answers come in, with three replies
07 Dec, 16:31Wilhelmina Oduya(651) 555-0166w.oduya@example.com2026YesHead of householdA dependant moved outAdaeze Oduya, 2004-06-21, daughter — at university, home in the holidaysEmployment (W-2), Retirement distributionsMinnesotaCharitable donations, Tuition or education costs, Medical expenses over 7.5% of incomeNot sureMy mother died in February and left me a small amount. I do not know if that goes on the return.W-2s, Charitable receipts, Prior year returnDrop off in personChequeYesYes2026-12-07
05 Dec, 08:44Terrence Boakye(612) 555-0197t.boakye@example.com2026No, and I prepared it myself last yearMyself, using softwareNot sure — please adviseDivorced or separated, Moved to a different stateKofi Boakye, 2012-03-14, son — lived with me from JulyEmployment (W-2), Self-employment or freelance (1099-NEC), Rental propertyIllinois until June, Minnesota from JulyStudent loan interest, Home office, Vehicle used for workYes, federal onlyDivorce finalised in May. Kept the Chicago condo and rent it out now. Had a letter from the IRS about 2024 that I have not opened.1099s, None yetEmailNot sure yetYesYes2026-12-05
03 Dec, 20:15Rosalind AchterbergNils Achterberg(651) 555-0122r.achterberg@example.com2026YesMarried filing jointlyNone of theseFreya Achterberg, 2015-08-02, daughter Otto Achterberg, 2019-11-19, sonEmployment (W-2), Interest or dividends, Stock or crypto salesMinnesotaMortgage interest, Property taxes, Charitable donations, Childcare costs, Retirement contributions (IRA, SEP, solo 401k)NoSold some index funds in June to pay for a roof.W-2s, Mortgage interest statement (1098), Prior year returnUpload to your portalDirect depositYesYes2026-12-03

Scroll sideways for the rest of the 22 answers, and press any heading to sort by it. In your own form you can search the answers as well, and download them as a spreadsheet at any time.

The point is to send it in December

A tax intake form completed in the appointment is a list read aloud. The same form sent with the December "we are opening the books" email is a client sitting at home working out that they did in fact sell some stock, and that they moved state in June.

That timing is the whole argument, and it is also why paper is the wrong medium: a form that has to be printed, posted and returned will not come back by January in any useful quantity.

Life changes are asked separately from filing status

A client will tell you their filing status and forget to mention the divorce that changed it, or give last year's status out of habit. Asking what changed during the year — married, divorced, a birth, a death, a move — catches the answer the status field alone does not.

"Moved to a different state" and the follow-up asking which states matter more than most preparers' intake forms suggest. A partial-year move is the commonest cause of a return being harder than the client believed.

Ask about income by source, not by form number

"Do you have a 1099-NEC?" gets a blank look from somebody who freelanced twice. "Self-employment or freelance" gets a yes. The document checklist further down is where form numbers belong, because by then the client is looking through a folder rather than searching their memory.

Stock or crypto sales get their own line because clients frequently do not think of them as income at all until the statement arrives in February.

The unusual-year box is where the expensive surprises live

A house sale, an inheritance, a business closing, an IRS notice, an amended prior year — each of these changes the scope and the fee, and each is routinely discovered halfway through preparation. One open question, asked before the engagement is priced, moves that discovery to the right side of the quote.

One link, and the answers arrive as a list

The answers come back as a spreadsheet, one row per client, which for a preparer with two hundred returns is the difference between a folder of paper and a sortable list — who has filed a state return before, who has rental income, who still has no documents.

If your firm already has an organiser it uses, upload that PDF rather than this template. The questions are read off the document, so your wording, your order and any engagement language your insurer requires stay exactly as they are.

A template, not tax advice

This is a starting point for gathering information, not advice, and not an engagement letter. What a preparer must obtain, disclose and retain is set by the IRS and by state boards, and a firm should have its own engagement documents reviewed rather than adopting a generic form.

Questions people ask

What should a tax client intake form include?

Contact details for the client and spouse, the tax year, whether they are returning, filing status and any life change during the year, dependants, states lived or worked in, income by source rather than by form number, likely deductions, whether estimated payments were made, an open question about anything unusual, a checklist of documents already to hand, how they will send them, refund preference, and a dated authorisation to prepare the return.

When should a tax preparer send the intake form?

December, with the note that the season is opening. A form answered at home in December produces the state move, the stock sale and the house sale before January, which is when they are cheap to handle rather than expensive.

Is a tax intake form the same as an engagement letter?

No. Intake gathers the information needed to price and prepare the return. An engagement letter sets the scope, the fee and the terms. Firms send both, and the engagement letter should be reviewed by somebody who knows the firm's obligations rather than taken from a template.

Why ask about income by source rather than by tax form?

Because clients recognise what they did before they recognise what it is called. "Freelance work" gets a yes from somebody who would answer no to "1099-NEC". Form numbers belong in the document checklist, where the client is looking at a folder rather than remembering.

Is this tax client intake form free?

Yes. Download the printable PDF with no account and no email address, or send the online version so the answers come back as a sortable list before the season starts.

Ready to send it out?

Every question above is already written. Make it a form, get your link, and send it. Reword anything first if your group asks it differently.

Free, no account needed to start, and the printable PDF stays one click away.

Already have your own version of this form?

You build nothing. Drop the PDF here, or photograph the printed copy, and the questions are read off it: no canvas, no dragging a box onto each field, no mapping step. The wording your organisation already approved stays exactly as it is, and you get a link that collects the answers back as a spreadsheet — and as the original document, filled in.

Related templates

All free form templates · Business and clients