Tax planning report template, section by section

A tax planning report template should produce a document a business owner can act on without calling you. Open with a one-page decision summary that has a date beside every action. Then record the facts and assumptions you relied on, give each recommendation with the rule behind it and any penalties that could apply, add an action calendar and estimated payment schedule, say what you didn't review, and end with the next review date.

The report is what the owner paid for. It's also the document they'll show their spouse, their attorney and their next accountant, and the one you'll open at renewal. A report built around decisions and dates does all of those jobs. A report built around a long list of strategies does none of them well.

Three jobs the report has to do

It gets the owner to act. Every recommendation ends in a step, a person and a date.

It records what you relied on. Your written plan is written advice under Circular 230 section 10.37, so the facts and assumptions behind it belong on the page (31 CFR 10.37).

It sets up the next engagement. The action calendar gives you dated reasons to check in, and the next review date is in writing before the owner closes the file.

The nine sections of the template

1. Cover and scope

Client name, entities covered, tax year, date issued and the engagement it belongs to. Then one scope sentence: "This report covers federal income tax for [owner] and [entity] for [tax year]. It does not cover [state tax, payroll filings, estate planning] unless listed below." Match this to the scope in your engagement letter. Our guide to proposals and engagement letters covers that side.

2. Decision summary

One page, one table. Some owners will read only this page, so it has to stand alone.

Show any estimated effect as a range and tie it to the assumptions in section 3. Keep your fee separate from it. Circular 230 section 10.27 defines a contingent fee to include one "based on a percentage of the taxes saved" and counts tax planning and advice as a matter before the IRS (31 CFR 10.27).

3. Facts and assumptions

List every fact the plan relies on and where it came from: the prior-year return, year-to-date books, payroll reports or the owner's own estimate. Then list assumptions about the future, such as expected profit for the rest of the year.

This section is where the written advice rules show up most clearly. Section 10.37 requires written advice to rest on reasonable factual and legal assumptions, including assumptions as to future events, to reasonably consider all relevant facts the practitioner knows or reasonably should know, and to avoid relying on a client's representations or projections where that reliance would be unreasonable (31 CFR 10.37). Section 10.34(d) lets you generally rely in good faith on client information, but requires reasonable inquiries if it appears incorrect, inconsistent or incomplete (31 CFR 10.34).

Add one line under the list: "If any of these facts change, tell us before acting on the plan."

4. Recommendations

One block per recommendation, in the same order as the summary. Each block has six parts.

• What to do. One sentence.
• Why. The rule behind it, with the citation. Section 10.37 asks the practitioner to relate applicable law and authorities to the facts.
• Steps. Numbered, each with an owner and a date.
• Records to keep. The documents that support the position.
• Risks and penalties. Section 10.34(c) requires a practitioner to inform a client of penalties reasonably likely to apply to a position taken on a tax return that the practitioner advised on, and of any chance to avoid them by disclosure (31 CFR 10.34).
• Options considered. One line on what you looked at and set aside, and why.

Leave audit odds out of the reasoning. Section 10.37 says a practitioner may not, in evaluating a federal tax matter, take into account the possibility that a return will not be audited or that a matter will not be raised on audit.

5. Action calendar

Every dated step from section 4, in date order, with the IRS dates around them.

6. Estimated payment schedule

A table with each due date and the amount, plus the basis for the amounts. The IRS general rule is that an owner must pay estimated tax if they expect to owe at least $1,000 after withholding and credits, and expect withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of 90% of the current year's tax or 100% of the prior year's tax. The 100% becomes 110% if prior-year adjusted gross income was more than $150,000 ($75,000 married filing separately), and farmers and fishermen have their own rules (IRS Publication 505).

State which basis you used. "Based on 110% of your 2025 tax" lets the owner, or the next preparer, check the numbers.

7. What we didn't review

A short list of what sits outside the plan: state taxes, payroll filings, estate planning, investment choices, insurance. Name the professional who handles each one, if the owner has one. This protects both sides and gives you a list of possible add-on work.

8. Who does what

A plan stalls when a step has no name next to it.

9. Next review and triggers

The date of the next review, booked before you send the report. Then a list of events that should bring the owner back sooner, such as hiring staff, buying or selling major assets, a large swing in profit, or a new owner or entity.

See if your firm is a fit

Sample decision page

Example numbers only, use your own. An S corporation owner with one entity and a growing profit.

Five lines, each with a date and a name. The detail sits in sections 3 and 4.

Delivering the report safely

The report holds the owner's financial details. The FTC Safeguards Rule lists "an accountant or other tax preparation service that is in the business of completing income tax returns" as a financial institution (16 CFR 314.2). Send the report through your portal, and keep it out of ordinary email attachments.

Section 7216 also applies to how you use return information. A preparer lawfully engaged in the practice of law or accountancy may use a client's return information to provide other legal or accounting services to that client (26 CFR 301.7216-2(h)). If your firm's planning work draws on returns you prepared, check with your adviser that this exception, or a signed consent, covers how you use them.

How the report brings the owner back

A plan with dates is easier to renew than a plan with a list of ideas. Three parts of the template do most of the work.

• The action calendar gives you a reason to call before each estimated payment date. Our guide to one-time plans and retainers shows how to turn those dates into a retainer offer.
• The next review date is already booked when the report goes out.
• The out-of-scope list shows the owner what else could be covered, without a sales pitch.

In year two, add a short section at the front showing which year-one steps were done and which weren't, with the date of each.

Mistakes that make planning reports go unread

• Strategies with no dates. Owners act on deadlines.
• Savings figures with no assumptions. If the facts change, the number is wrong and you'll own it.
• No scope line. The owner assumes everything was covered.
• Code citations in the summary. Keep them in section 4, where your peers and the next preparer will look.
• Thirty pages. Long reports hide the five steps that matter. Lead with the summary and keep each recommendation to one page.

Where to start this week

1. Turn the nine sections into a template in your document system.
2. Rebuild one recent plan into it and check the decision summary works on its own.
3. Add the facts and assumptions section to every plan already in progress.
4. Write a standard "what we didn't review" list and adjust it per client.
5. Book the next review before you send each report.

Questions firm owners ask

What should a tax planning report include? A cover with scope, a one-page decision summary with dates, the facts and assumptions relied on, each recommendation with the rule, steps, records and penalties that could apply, an action calendar, an estimated payment schedule, what wasn't reviewed, who does what, and the next review date.

How long should a tax planning report be? Short enough that the decision summary fits on one page and each recommendation fits on about one more. Some owners read only the summary, so it has to stand alone.

Does a written tax plan have to meet Circular 230 rules? A written plan is written advice under section 10.37. It must rest on reasonable factual and legal assumptions, consider the relevant facts, relate the law to those facts and leave audit odds out of the reasoning. Section 10.34(c) also requires telling the client about penalties reasonably likely to apply to return positions you advised on.

Should a tax planning report show estimated savings? If you show an estimated effect, give it as a range tied to the stated assumptions, and keep your fee separate from it. Circular 230 section 10.27 treats a fee based on a percentage of the taxes saved as a contingent fee.

Sources

General information from the official sources listed below, checked 25 Oct 2026. Not tax or legal advice.

• 31 CFR 10.37, requirements for written advice (eCFR)
• 31 CFR 10.34, standards for tax returns and documents (eCFR)
• 31 CFR 10.27, fees and contingent fees (eCFR)
• IRS, estimated tax due dates (FAQ)
• IRS Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax
• IRS, instructions for Form 2553
• IRS, 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026 (IR-2025-111)
• IRS, S corporation compensation and medical insurance issues
• 16 CFR 314.2, Safeguards Rule definitions (eCFR)
• 26 CFR 301.7216-2, uses without consent (eCFR)

If you'd rather have qualified owners booked for you

Financial Sales Insider is a marketing company that fills US CPA and EA firms' calendars with qualified tax planning meetings.

Your firm meets the business owners, explains its planning service, and decides which clients to take on.

See if your firm is a fit

Related: Proposal or engagement letter? · One-time plan or retainer? · Stop giving free tax advice

Johnny Logan, Founder, Financial Sales Insider.

Financial Sales Insider · Florida · (305) 513-1710