Include Bus card w/1099-misc

[taxea]

The only thing in a W2 mailing should be the W2. Cir 230 prohibits advertising, discount, gift cards, etc. I don't think a business card would be considered anything other than a solicitation for business

[taxtimeagain]

MRS Issue 12-0001531 – Prohibited Practitioner Advertising
Issue: Practitioner advertising is prohibited on Forms W-2 and other information returns (reference Rev Proc 2011-62 and Publication 1141), but are there restrictions on including practitioner advertising with Forms W-2 and other information returns?

Response: No additional enclosures, such as advertising, promotional material, or a quarterly or annual report, are permitted. Even a sentence or two on the year-end statement describing new services offered by the payer is not permitted. Logos, slogans and advertising may be used on any permissible enclosure such as a check or account statement, other than information returns and payee copies. See the general instructions of the information return for a list of permissible enclosures.

[taxea]

I print the client's return address on the 1099 envelopes so the recipients have no idea that I am involved. I'v thought of the idea to include coupons but decided against it for the reason of client confidentiality.

I agree. There is a confidentiality issue here for sure. Would this issue exist if you sent your business card in a separate solicitation letter and paid for the postage out of your company funds rather than have your client pay your business expenses for advertising. At any case, I am still not sure it wouldnt be a misuse of information provided by your client confidentiallly to you. Why not just give cards to your client and ask him to hand them out to his workers.

[Uncle Sam]

Using Client Business Relationships to Solicit

Don't you think that's unethical?
Are you that desperate for their business that you'd use a client's
business contacts to promote yourself?
Your client values privacy. You should value your client - not yourself.

The street front tax prep factories are large corporate giants that have
money for impersonal professionally designed advertising - YOU DON'T.

[ToddFogelberg]

1099s

I print the client's return address on the 1099 envelopes so the recipients have no idea that I am involved. I'v thought of the idea to include coupons but decided against it for the reason of client confidentiality.

[ToledoEd]

I would and have. I open a lot of envelopes that have HR Block and Jackson Hewit coupons in them so why not. I do think that you need to ask the person for whom you are completing the 1099s or W2's for permission. It is actually thier mail not yours.

[Jiggers]

I was curious. We are mailing out 1099-misc's to one of our clients independent contractors. Would it be professional to drop my tax preparer business card in the envelope? Would anyone know the legality of this for I could not locate anything.

I wouldn't do this. Wouldn't you be disclosing to this person that you have the issuer as a client?

[AZ-Tax]

I was curious. We are mailing out 1099-misc's to one of our clients independent contractors. Would it be professional to drop my tax preparer business card in the envelope? Would anyone know the legality of this for I could not locate anything.