What a tax preparer website needs: pages, words and photos

A tax preparer's website has to earn trust fast, because a new client is about to hand you their income, their Social Security number and their family details. The core pages are your services, your credentials and who you are, how the process works, your fees explained in words, your office and hours, and a safe way to get in touch. Keep it plain, current and honest about what you do and do not do.

What new clients check before they call

People look for a new preparer for a few reasons: their old one retired, their situation got more complicated (a side business, a rental, a parent's estate), or they received an IRS letter they do not understand. Before they call, they look for:

• What kind of returns you prepare. Individual, small business, rental property, farm, nonprofit, multi-state.
• Your credentials. Whether you are a CPA, an enrolled agent, or a preparer, and what that means.
• Whether you can help with an IRS or state letter. Many people search because of one.
• How the process works. In person, drop-off, or fully remote.
• Roughly what it costs.
• Whether their information will be safe.
• Whether you are open outside tax season.

The first lines of your home page should answer the first and last: "Tax preparation for individuals and small businesses in Toledo, year-round. Enrolled agent, in practice since 2009."

The pages a tax preparer site needs

Home

That sentence, a photo of you or your team in your office, a short welcome, and two buttons: "Book an appointment" and "Call us". During tax season, add a short note on availability: "Now booking appointments for February and March."

Services

List what you do, grouped so clients find themselves:

• Individual returns: wage earners, retirees, families, multi-state.
• Self-employed and small business: sole proprietors, LLCs, partnerships, S corporations, and the bookkeeping help you offer, if any.
• Rental property and investments.
• Amended and prior-year returns.
• IRS and state notices: reading the letter, responding, payment plans. If you can represent clients before the IRS, say so.
• Year-round planning: estimated payments, a new business, a life change.

If you do not do something, such as complex trusts or international returns, say so politely and, if you can, suggest who does. It saves everyone time.

About and credentials

This page matters more for preparers than for most trades. Include:

• Your name, photo and how long you have prepared returns.
• Your credential written out the first time: Certified Public Accountant (CPA), licensed by the state; Enrolled Agent (EA), licensed by the IRS to represent taxpayers; or a preparer who has completed the IRS Annual Filing Season Program.
• That you hold a current PTIN, the number every paid preparer must have.
• Professional memberships, such as the National Association of Enrolled Agents or your state's society of CPAs.
• Continuing education, in a line.

The IRS runs a public directory of federal tax return preparers with credentials, which clients can use to check you; you can point them to it from irs.gov. If you have staff preparers, give each a short profile.

How it works

Explain the steps from first contact to filing: booking, sending documents, the meeting or call, reviewing and signing, filing, and getting a copy. The companion guide on what clients need before tax season goes into the document checklist, deadlines and secure upload in detail.

Fees

You do not need a price list for every form. Explain how you set fees in plain words: by the forms and schedules involved, the complexity, and the time, with typical starting points for common returns if you are comfortable sharing them. Say when you give an estimate and when payment is due. For the general question, see whether to list prices on your website.

Office, hours and contact

Address, parking, hours in and out of season, and how to reach you. More on contact below.

Photos that build trust

• You at your desk or meeting a client across a table, in your real office.
• The front of your building, so people find you.
• Your team, if you have one.

Avoid stock photos of calculators, piles of cash or people celebrating a refund. They make a serious service look like an ad. Never show a screen or paper with client information, even blurred.

What to leave off

• Refund promises. "Biggest refund guaranteed" or "maximum refund" claims are exactly what the IRS warns taxpayers to watch out for when choosing a preparer. They also attract the wrong clients.
• Fees tied to the size of the refund. Same reason.
• Tax advice articles that go out of date. Tax rules change every year. A blog post on last year's credits can mislead clients and reflect badly on you. If you write about tax topics, date every post and review them each year.
• Last season's hours and deadlines.
• Logos of software or government agencies used as if they endorse you.

Privacy and secure contact

Clients worry about identity theft, and they should. Your site should help them protect themselves:

• Say plainly: "Please do not email Social Security numbers, tax forms or bank details. Use our secure upload portal or bring documents to the office."
• Link to your secure portal clearly, with short instructions.
• On your contact form, ask only for name, phone, email and a short message. Add a line under the message box: "Please do not include Social Security numbers or account numbers here."
• If you have a written information security plan, which the IRS expects paid preparers to have, you can mention that you do.

A contact path for busy season

From late January to mid-April, you will not answer every call. Plan for it:

• Online appointment booking, if you use it, with clear slots for new and returning clients.
• A short form for new clients: name, contact details, type of return (individual, business, rental), and whether they received an IRS letter.
• Say when you reply: "During tax season we return calls and messages within two business days."
• A tappable phone number at the top of every page, and your fax number if clients still use it.
• An off-season note from May to December, saying you are still available for notices, amended returns and planning.

Make sure messages from the form go to an inbox that someone reads every day in season. Where contact form messages go explains how to check.

What to do this week

• Write one sentence with your services, town, credential and year-round availability for the top of the home page.
• Update your about page with your credential written out and your PTIN status.
• Remove any refund promise and any outdated tax article.
• Add a privacy line to your contact form and a clear link to your secure portal.
• Post your hours for this coming season.

If you already have a site and it feels dated or is hard to use on a phone, you can see it rebuilt first and decide with the result in front of you.