How to Get Tax Clients: A Marketing Plan for 2027

1. Start with people who already trust you

Your first clients rarely come from strangers. Write down everyone who might file a return this year: family, friends, coworkers and former coworkers, your church or community groups, neighbors, and past clients if you've prepared returns before. Then tell each of them, personally, that you're open for the 2027 season, what you do, and how to book.

Keep the message short and specific: who you help (for example W-2 families, rideshare drivers or Spanish-speaking clients), when you open, where you work (office, home office or remote), and how to reach you. Ask each person to share it with one person who needs a preparer.

2. Get found on Google Maps, Apple Maps and Bing

When someone searches "tax preparer near me" in January, the map results come from business listings. A complete, verified Google Business Profile is the single most useful free listing for a local tax office. Set it up early, because verification can take time.

• Use your real business name. Google's guidelines say your name should reflect your business's real-world name, and adding unnecessary information to it can get the profile suspended. "Rivera Tax Services" is fine. "Rivera Tax Services Best Tax Preparer Houston" is not.
• Pick accurate categories (for example Tax preparation service) and list the services you actually offer.
• Working from home? Google says service-area businesses should hide their address. List the areas you serve instead.
• Add hours, including seasonal hours, your phone number, your website, languages spoken and real photos of your office or team.
• Claim Apple Business Connect and Bing Places too. iPhone users see Apple Maps, and Bing powers several AI and voice assistants. Use the same name, phone and address everywhere.

3. Put up a simple website that turns visits into calls

Your website doesn't need to be big. It needs to answer the questions a new client has before they call: what you do, who you help, what it costs or how you price, what to bring, your hours and languages, and how to reach you. Put a tap-to-call button at the top for phone visitors, and a short form or booking link for people who'd rather not call.

Use your own domain so the site and email stay yours. See a sample tax office website for the kind of page that works.

4. Build a referral program and ask for reviews

Referrals are the cheapest clients you'll ever get. Ask every satisfied client, ideally when their refund lands, and make it easy: a short text they can forward, or a card with your number. Many offices thank referrers with a small reward or a discount on next year's preparation.

Reviews work differently. Ask every client for an honest review, not just the happy ones, and never buy them. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews, in effect since October 21, 2024, bans offering compensation or other incentives for reviews that express a particular sentiment, positive or negative, and bans fake reviews. The simplest safe policy: reward referrals, never reviews.

5. Partner with local businesses

Look for people who meet your future clients first: real estate agents, insurance agents, mortgage and loan officers, bookkeepers, immigration and notary offices, small-business owners and employers with hourly staff. Offer to be their go-to preparer for referrals, and refer business back to them.

Keep client information out of it. Section 7216 of the tax code restricts how preparers use or disclose tax return information, so don't share anything about a client with a partner without the client's proper written consent.

6. Run search ads in peak weeks

Search ads let you show up at the top of Google for searches like "tax preparer near me" or "tax preparation [your city]" when people are choosing a preparer, mostly late January through early April. You set the daily budget and pay per click. Start small, send ads to a page with your phone number at the top, and check which searches are actually producing calls before spending more.

Ads work best on top of a verified listing, a few reviews and a website that answers questions. Without those, you pay for clicks that don't call.

7. Pick a niche you can own

A clear niche makes every channel above work better, because your message is specific. Common ones for new offices:

• A language community, such as Spanish- or Haitian Creole-speaking families.
• Gig and 1099 workers: rideshare and delivery drivers, cleaners, contractors, people with a Schedule C.
• A workplace or industry you know: nurses, truck drivers, restaurant workers, military families.
• Remote clients who want to upload documents and sign electronically.

Advertising rules every tax preparer must follow

Authorized IRS e-file Providers have to follow the IRS advertising standards in Publication 3112 and Publication 1345, in addition to federal, state and local consumer protection laws. The main points:

• No false or misleading claims. Providers must comply with the advertising rules in Circular 230 section 10.30, which bar false, fraudulent, coercive, misleading or deceptive statements.
• Don't use "IRS" in your business name, and don't put IRS, Treasury or FMS seals on ads. Once accepted, you may say you're an "Authorized IRS e-file Provider."
• Call refund products what they are. If you advertise a refund anticipation loan or other refund-related product, the ad must make clear the client is borrowing against or receiving a financial product, not getting the refund itself.
• Don't advertise filing before W-2s. Publication 1345 says providers must not advertise that returns can be e-filed before they receive Forms W-2, W-2G and 1099-R, or imply that pay stubs are enough.
• Faster-refund claims must be consistent with the language in official IRS publications.

A month-by-month marketing plan for 2027

Work backward from late January, when the IRS usually opens the filing season:

Want the setup done for you?

That's part of how we work with partner offices. With $0 upfront, we set up your office website, your Google Business Profile, Apple Maps and Bing listings, a Google Ads account ready to switch on in January, and a referral program, all in your name. You own all of it, and your growth is our business too. We don't guarantee clients: results depend on your area, reviews, referrals and any ad budget you choose. See how we work.