Holiday cards for accountants and tax preparers
We'd mail client holiday cards from an accounting practice in the first two weeks of December, with a thank-you and no tax advice. Circular 230 requires practitioners to keep direct-mail solicitations for at least 36 months, and a plain greeting may not be one, but we'd keep a copy of the card and the mailing list anyway.
When to mail them
We'd mail cards in the first two weeks of December, before year-end planning calls start. A Happy New Year card mailed in late December also works.
Sample messages for accounting clients
- "Thank you for trusting us with your finances this year. We wish you and your family a restful holiday season and a happy New Year." (130 characters)
- "It was a pleasure working with you this year. Thank you for your business, and best wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year." (129 characters)
Keep tax deadlines and service offers out of the card. Send those in their own letter or email in January.
What Circular 230 says about solicitations by mail
Section 10.30 of the IRS practice rules in 31 CFR Part 10, known as Circular 230, says a practitioner may not use any public communication or private solicitation with a false, fraudulent, coercive, misleading or deceptive statement about an IRS matter.
For direct-mail communications covered by the section, the practitioner must keep a copy of the actual communication and a list or description of who received it, for at least 36 months from the last use. A plain holiday greeting may not count as a solicitation, but keeping a proof of the card and the mailing list costs little. This is a summary of the regulation, not legal advice.
Need a copy of every card for your files? We print each card with "Dear" and your client's first name, your note and your name, and mail it First-Class for $2.99 a card, postage included (as of November 2026). You see a proof of every card before you pay and can open every proof as one PDF for your files. We delete proofs 45 days after a paid order.
Make your cardsQuestions
When should accountants send holiday cards?
We'd mail them in the first two weeks of December, before year-end planning. A Happy New Year card mailed in late December also works.
Does Circular 230 apply to holiday cards?
Section 10.30 covers public communications and private solicitations about IRS matters, and requires a practitioner to keep a copy of direct-mail solicitations, with a list of who received them, for at least 36 months from the last use. A plain greeting may not be a solicitation, but we'd keep a copy and the mailing list anyway.
Should an accounting firm put tax tips in a holiday card?
We'd keep the card a thank-you, and send deadlines and tips in a separate letter or email in January.
Sources
The pages we read for this guide.