How tax preparers request a voided check from clients
By Arthur Teboul, DokuTrak · Published
In short
Ask the client for a voided check, or a direct deposit letter from the bank, for the account where the refund should land or where a balance due will be debited. You take the routing and account numbers from it for the return, so one wrong digit sends the money to the wrong place.
Why tax preparers need a voided check
Form 1040 has lines for the routing number, account number and account type for a direct deposit refund, and the same details are used when the client chooses to pay a balance due by electronic withdrawal at filing. Typing them from memory or from a text message is where errors start. A printed check or bank letter gives you the numbers as the bank issued them.
What exactly to ask for
A check from the account to be used, with “VOID” written across it, the routing and account numbers at the bottom still readable. If the client has no checks, a direct deposit form or letter from the bank showing both numbers and the account holder’s name works. A deposit slip is not a good substitute, because its routing number may differ.
What to check when it arrives
- The account is in the name of the taxpayer or spouse, not a relative or a business.
- The routing number has nine digits and the account number is fully readable, not cut off by the void mark.
- You know whether it is a checking or savings account, because the return asks for the type.
Email to send your client
Replace the bracketed parts. The same text fits in the message of a DokuTrak request (up to 1,000 characters).
Subject: Bank details for your refund or payment
Hi [Client name],
So your refund goes straight to your bank, or so a balance due can be paid from it on the day we file, I need the account details exactly as your bank prints them.
The simplest is a photo or scan of a check from that account with VOID written across it, keeping the numbers at the bottom readable. No checks? A direct deposit letter from your bank, often available in online banking, works too. Please tell me if it is checking or savings.
Could you send it by [date]? If you would prefer a paper check from the IRS, just say so.
Thank you, [Your name]
Ask once. DokuTrak does the chasing.
- Your client uploads from one link, with no account and no password.
- Reminders go out on a schedule, by default 2, 5, 10 and 14 days after the request, until the file arrives.
- With AI review switched on in your workspace (it is off by default), each upload gets a first pass that flags a file that is not a voided check or an unreadable or blurry scan. It says so when it is not sure.
- You accept every file or mark it for re-upload, and your client gets the note by email. The AI never accepts a file.