How to send tax documents securely
Tax season runs on document exchange: T4s and W-2s, prior returns, receipts, banking details for direct deposit. It is some of the most identity-rich paperwork a person handles all year, and most of it travels by email attachment because that is the path of least resistance. There is a better way that costs almost no extra effort.
Why a tax file is a fraud target
A single tax package can contain a Social Insurance or Social Security number, full legal name, address, employer, income, and bank account - everything someone needs to impersonate you or file a fraudulent return in your name. Once it is sitting as an attachment in two mailboxes, it stays there indefinitely and is only as safe as the weaker of the two accounts.
Collect, do not email
If you are the accountant or preparer, send the client one secure link with a checklist of what you need, instead of trading attachments back and forth. The client uploads through the link without making an account, each file is virus-scanned and encrypted at rest, and you get an audit record of exactly what arrived and when.
If you are the client, ask whether your preparer can send you a secure upload link. Most of the risk disappears the moment the documents stop living in email.
Set a retention window
Decide how long the documents need to stay in the collection channel - usually only until they are filed into your real system of record - and let them expire after that. A tax document that no longer exists in your inbox cannot leak from it.
Ready to try it on your next intake? See how it works.