Married Couples, Portals, Sharing Email addresses & E-signing

Being married does not let one person e-sign for the other. Only accept someone else's signature when you have seen a power of attorney.

We often receive requests to see how people can work around this in their Engager account. We want you to be aware of your responsibilities and risks.

Married couples, portals and e-signing

Legally speaking, a married person, or anyone else for that matter, can only sign a tax return on behalf of the other married person or anyone else if there is a power of attorney (POA) in place. If there is, you need to see an authenticated copy and store a digital copy for your records.

Being married does not give you the right to sign on behalf of the other married person.

Domestic abuse through financial control is now a crime and, unfortunately, something that is seeing a dramatic rise. By accepting the signing of a tax return or any other documents by one person on behalf of another person, you could be facilitating domestic abuse through financial control, something none of us want to be involved in.

In Johann's firm, for these reasons, the only time they accept e-signatures from another person is when they have seen a power of attorney.

If they claim only to have one email, it's a 5 minute set-up and free. If they're technically challenged, offer to do it with them or ask for signatures on the tax return on paper.

We never accept any other method or excuse.

We encourage you all to consider your approach to this. Without being overly negative, in today's world we can't be blinkered.