“Eighteen (18) months” is the number that matters most to a tax preparer’s text campaign. A client who filed with a firm last April still has an established business relationship with it the following January. A client who skipped a year doesn’t, and a Tax season is here, book your appointment text to that number can be a Do Not Call violation. Tax offices, bookkeeping firms, and franchise preparers send most of their texts in a few busy weeks, which concentrates the exposure. Their records usually hold the defenses.
Which tax-office texts are marketing?
Texts that encourage a client to book or buy, including the season-opening it’s time to file message.
The FCC defines “telemarketing” as “the initiation of a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services.” Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(f)(13), a text inviting last year’s clients to schedule this year’s return is marketing. So are texts promoting refund advances, audit protection, bookkeeping packages, or financial products sold through the office.
Texts about work already under way are informational. Notices that a return was accepted, that a W-2 is still missing, or that documents are ready to sign fit that category. Keep them free of upsells. A status text that adds a pitch for an audit protection plan invites a dual-purpose argument.
How does the 18-month rule work for tax clients?
A client relationship exempts the firm from the National Do Not Call Registry rule for 18 months after the last transaction.
A telephone solicitation excludes a message to “any person with whom the caller has an established business relationship.” The relationship rests on a purchase or transaction “within the eighteen (18) months immediately preceding the date of the telephone call,” or an inquiry or application within three months.
Annual filers stay inside the window. The risk sits in three groups: clients who skipped a year or used another preparer, prospects whose inquiry was more than three months ago, and numbers bought or shared from a referral partner. A firm that segments its January list by last-transaction date, and scrubs anyone outside 18 months against the Registry, avoids most of this risk. A do-not-call request also ends the relationship, “even if the subscriber continues to do business with the seller.”
Does a tax office need written consent to text?
For marketing texts sent with an autodialer, yes. Many client-portal and texting tools aren’t autodialers.
Section 64.1200(a)(2) requires “prior express written consent” for autodialed or prerecorded calls to cell phones that include “an advertisement or constitutes telemarketing.” That consent is “an agreement, in writing, bearing the signature of the person called that clearly authorizes the seller” to send those messages. An engagement letter or intake form with a separate, signed text-marketing authorization is the cleanest record.
The autodialer definition is narrow. Equipment qualifies only if it can store or produce numbers “using a random or sequential number generator,” under § 64.1200(f)(2), following Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid (2021). Firms shouldn’t treat that as a plan, though. Plaintiffs still plead autodialer claims, and the Do Not Call rules apply regardless of equipment.
What happens when a client replies STOP?
The firm must stop within ten business days, even mid-season.
Under § 64.1200(a)(10), a client may revoke consent “using any reasonable method to clearly express a desire not to receive further calls or text messages,” and the firm must honor the request “within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days.” Replies such as “stop” and “unsubscribe” count automatically. A client who opts out of marketing may still need texts about an open return, and the confirmation text may ask which messages the client wants to keep.
Franchise and multi-office firms face the same problem as other chains: a STOP sent to one office’s number must reach every platform the brand uses.
What does a violation cost?
$500 per violation, up to $1,500 if willful or knowing.
Robocall claims under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3) and Do Not Call claims under § 227(c)(5) carry that range. Do Not Call claims require more than one telephone call within any 12-month period, and season campaigns often send three or four reminders.
| Tax-office text | Rule | Exposure | Defense to develop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return-accepted status text | 227(b)(1)(A) | $500 per violation; up to $1,500 if willful or knowing | Number given at intake; not an autodialer |
| Season-opening booking reminder | 64.1200(a)(2) | Same | Signed consent; not an autodialer |
| Reminder to a lapsed client on the Registry | 64.1200(c)(2) | Same, if more than one in 12 months | Transaction within 18 months; scrub records |
| Refund-advance or product promotion | 64.1200(a)(2), (c) | Same | Consent and relationship records |
| Texts after STOP | 64.1200(a)(10), (d) | Same | Opt-out processed within ten business days |
Steps to take when a tax office gets a TCPA demand
- Preserve texting platform logs, engagement letters, intake forms, and consent records for the numbers in the claim, under a litigation hold.
- Pull opt-out replies and the internal do-not-call list, with dates.
- Pull Registry scrub records and each client’s last filing or transaction date.
- Gather texting vendor and franchise agreements, message templates, and campaign schedules.
- Have a lawyer review the demand before replying, contacting the client, or offering a refund.
The last-transaction date in step 3 usually decides the Do Not Call part of the claim. More on defending Do Not Call claims is available, and a recent post covers federal caller identification requirements.
Questions tax preparers ask about client texts
Does filing a return for a client create consent for marketing texts?
It creates an established business relationship for 18 months, which handles the Do Not Call rule. It doesn’t create prior express written consent, which autodialed marketing texts need. A signed text authorization on the engagement letter covers both.
Can a firm text clients about an extension deadline?
A reminder about a client’s own open matter, without a sales pitch, is informational. A text offering to file the extension for a fee encourages a purchase. Keeping deadline reminders separate from offers makes the informational argument easier.
Are texts to business clients covered?
The Do Not Call rules protect residential subscribers, so a company’s main line is outside them. Many small-business owners use personal cell phones for business, and the robocall rule covers any cell phone. Treat owner cell numbers as covered.
Does buying a retiring preparer’s client list transfer the relationship?
Not automatically. The relationship belongs to the entity the client dealt with, and it doesn’t extend to others unless the client “would reasonably expect them to be included,” under § 64.1200(f)(5)(ii). Scrub acquired lists before the first season campaign.
Defending claims over tax-season texts
If your firm has received a demand over tax-season reminders or promotional texts, the client’s filing history and the opt-out logs usually decide how much of the claim survives. Rosenberger + Kawabata represents businesses defending TCPA lawsuits and class actions through its business litigation practice, including claims involving texts to former clients. Contact Rosenberger + Kawabata online for a confidential consultation, or call (310) 894-6921.
Sources
47 U.S.C. § 227; 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200.
This post is general information about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and related laws as of May 20, 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Courts and the FCC change the rules in this area often, and the outcome of any claim depends on its facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.